Broadway, meet the NYFD
by angieadc
Summary: AU finchel story. -'Last minute warning though, I may not be a very good dancer… Honestly, I suck so be careful, I really don't want to hurt you' She giggled some more, he was so sweet.-'I'll take my chances.'- Broadway star Rachel Berry meets a very special firefighter, namely Finn Hudson.
1. Some nights

She was having a fantastic day, not only had she heard that her show, Once, was nominated for a tony, but she also landed a place in the cast of the upcoming production of Wicked. She couldn't think of anything else really, playing Elphaba was one of her lifelong ambitions and the feeling of fulfillment she was getting was just… awesome! Being any happier would be illegal.

Still, Once was still running for a month and 5 weeks later she would have a 'meet and greet' with the rest of the crew, actors, director and so on and so forth. She couldn't wait!

As soon as she got home, she phoned her best friend in the world, ok that was a bit too much, maybe her best (and only) female friend: Santana. Even though the latina was known for her 'bitchy' personality and 'i-don't-really-give-a-fuck' behavior, she was actually one of the only people Rachel could trust and tell absolutely everything without even a tiny bit of hesitation. The pair had bonded over the fact that, when they moved in together 6 years ago, it was their first time living as young independent women. Rachel loved living with Santana, she would always tell her the absolute truth about her outfits and take care of her if she had a fever or was just suffering from a hangover. No matter what, she was there for her, and Rachel liked to return the favor by cooking and baking for her.

As the phone rang, Rachel planned a little dinner party to celebrate and wondered if the boys were going to be free that night. Apart from Santana, Rachel's other best friends were Blaine and Brody or as she liked calling them 'the B-Boys' which they didn't like that much but still. Blaine was her best gay friend, they had met during an after party which he was hosting and she was set to perform and had become extremely close friends ever since. On the other hand, Brody was straight and really, and I mean really handsome, he is the kind of man that every woman dreams about, well not Rachel, ok maybe she had but that was long ago! Long story short: she had had a huge crush on him when they were younger but he was unavailable so she just moved on, now he was free but their friendship meant too much for her to just throw it away for a kiss or two, plus, she no longer had any 'romantic' feelings over him. However, they did have this kind of family together. The thing is, when they were both nineteen, Brody's brother and sister-in-law suffered a terrible accident which left their poor little girl with no parents. So, as her godfather and beloved uncle, Brody took her under his wing and has been in charge of her well being ever since. He was not alone though, along with Rachel, Blaine and Santana were always there for help and together they managed to raise Sophie properly. The four of them loved her dearly and were so proud of her in every way.

'San I got it! I got the role of Elphaba in Wicked!'

'Way to go diva! Congratulations! Want to get wasted tonight?'

'Thanks, but actually I was wondering if you guys wanted to have dinner here as a little celebration party, what do you think?'

'Sounda awesome, I'll talk to your B-Boys and tell them to be there by 6, ok?'

'Perfect, thank you, bye Sanny!'

'Wait, Rachel-'

'Yes?'

'Congratulations, you really deserve it, I'm proud of you'

'Thank you, couldn't have done it without you, I love you, you know that right?'

'Yeah, I love you too. Ok, too much heart to heart talk here, we'll be there later, bye!'

'Bye!'

Rachel hanged up and started preparing dinner, little did she know that show would not only affect her career but her heart too.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Time flew by and she found herself giving her last rendition of 'The hill' and earning her last standing ovation for her role in ONCE, she would miss it, no doubt about that, and so she cried and cried during the applause and then cried some more in the goodbye party. In her defense, everyone was a little emotional, maybe not that much but they definitely had glassy eyes. _

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After a delightful holiday with her friends in Cabo, Rachel was ready to start rehearsing for the upcoming show. She was even more excited now that Brody was going to work with her on the production. Apparently, the original choreographer had suffered from a severe injury for which he had to stay at home at least 4 months and so they called Brody. Brody Weston was, apart from one of her best friends ever, one of the greatest dance choreographers and an incredible dance teacher. So it came as no surprise when, during one of their late night dinners at the beach, his phone went off and he was offered the position which of course he accepted. Now, they were just an hour away from meeting the rest of the cast and crew and she was beyond exited.

Once they had all introduced themselves, they run through the script a couple of times and the producers announced when rehearsals would start. Meeting everyone was great, she particularly hit it off with the costumes designer Kurt Hummel and her co-star Marley Rose who seemed just too sweet for her own good. So, later that day the three of them went out for coffee to get to know each other better.

After that day, they became inseparable, Kurt soon became his OBGF –other best gay friend- and Marley her first straight female friend, you would think that since Santana was into girls they wouldn't discuss guys, that's where you are wrong. But, getting back to her newly bonded friends, they'd do everything together and after opening day Rachel decided it would be cool to host a little dinner party at her house for them to meet the old gang.

As a result, Kurt and Blaine were all over each other, she'd be lying if she said she didn't see it coming but she thought it would take a little more time. Nonetheless, she was happy for them, they did talk for like 10 minutes before almost eating each other faces. Kurt looked at the other boy as if he had hung the moon and she had never seen such a huge smile on Blaine's face. They seemed so content, and she was happy for them, a little jealous too but who wouldn't? They had met each other no more than a couple hours ago and seemed perfect for each other! She wanted that too!

Apart from that dinner was a success. At the beginning Santana was a little intimidating towards her new friends but they soon got over it and got along just fine. At the end of the 'celebration' Kurt invited all of them to his upcoming b-day party. Apparently it would be a huge, black-tie bash based on his favorite musical 'The phantom of the Opera'.

'I think I haven't seen that one' said Blaine nonchalantly.

'Ok, I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that for both our sakes.' Then facing the rest of us he added 'You just need to show up in a nice dress or suit and you'll be given a mask at the door. I was in charge of the costumes on the last revival of the show so, now that it's no longer running I have like a hundred masks to use as I please.'

'Oh! So it's gonna be like the masquerade from the show, that sounds like so much fun!' Rachel said.

'And that's why you are one of my very best friends!' Kurt answered. They all shared a laugh and started chatting about their favorite parts of the musical then.

'I like when the Roul and Christine sing together and kiss and they say they love each other! Its sooooooo sweet!' Sophie commented.

'Then for your own good, don't ever watch 'Love Never Dies''- Marley answered while Brody and Rachel chuckled, of course Sophie's favorite scene would be that one. The nine-year-old was in that stage in which Barbies and princesses weren't cool but love stories were the real deal. She was, as Rachel a helpless romantic.

'I still don't know which play you are talking about' Blaine said, his voice only a whisper, he looked a little embarrassed, he and Santana were the only ones there who didn't work in Broadway so he felt a little out of his comfort zone.

'Oh please curly monster, you must have watched the movie! It's the one with the extremely hot guy who makes our panties wet every time we see him! The one from 300!' said the latina.

'Gerard Butler!' guessed Brody excitedly.

'Yeah! That one! He is such a hottie!'

'You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you are the one who's gay- Kurt said pointing to Brody-' and you the straight one' he finished turning to Santana. Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the comment and soon everyone joined her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

RACHEL'S P.O.V:

'Diva are you ready!? We are going to be late because of you!'- I heard Santana shout for the 27th time in the last 10 minutes.

'I'm coming! I'm coming!'- I answered as I came down the stairs. Of course Santana looked smoking hot in a beautiful red dress with matching stilettos, then again, she always looked like she walked out of a movie.- Wow San, you look really hot!'

'Thanks munchkin, you too, that dress suits you perfectly'- she answered.

'Thank you'

'Ok, now let's go!'

And just like that we were on our way to the party.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

'Oh. My. God. Lady Hummel wasn't kidding when he said it would be huge bash' Santana said completely in awe as they approached the front door.

'Indeed, it looks awesome!' Blaine added.

'Oh my gosh! Dad! It's my first masquerade ball! I'm so excited!' Sophie told Brody whilst jumping up and down in her beautiful pink dress. You would guess that after being her legal guardian for almost six years, Brody would be used to the fact of being called 'Dad' but every time the little girl said it, it still hurt a little in his heart, thinking it should be his brother the one holding his baby girl's hand in that moment and not him. He missed him so much but he couldn't dwell on it in that moment, Sophie was waiting for an answer and they were on a party, plus, Kurt would kick his ass if he stood there all sad and depressed.

'You look stunning honey' –he told her sweetly before placing a kiss on her chick.

Once in, the four grown-ups and the little one were given their masks and some instructions. They would only be able to take them off once the bell rang and exchanging masks was not allowed. Apparently Kurt had carefully assigned each guest a certain mask which should fit their personalities perfectly, so, Rachel ended up with a bright golden one which matched her dress and covered from the top of her nose upwards whilst Santana had a much darker one, almost black that covered half her face and screamed sexy but demon too. Unlike Brody's, whose mask was golden as Rachel's but seemed suit for a gorgeous, intelligent, gentlemen just like him, and Sophie's which was pale pink, almost white and was decorated with spectacular feathers and made her look like Hilary Duff, one of her idols, in the Cinderella story. Last but not least, the mask Blaine was given was absolutely perfect for him, it was silver but simple enough to make him look mysterious and sexy, something Kurt obviously thought he was.

As they made their way into the main area they spotted Marley in a wonderful salmon dress and a white mask which made her look just as naive as Sophie and Kurt who was obviously wearing the famous phantom mask and an impeccable Armani black suit.

'Oh god Kurt! Happy birthday!'-Rachel was the first to speak-'This is such an amazing party! Congratulations!'

'Thanks darling, glad you all could make it' Kurt replayed after greeting everyone. Then they all started chatting and singing along some songs that were being played and Sophie took off to play with some of the other kids that attended to the party. They were talking about new projects when suddenly Rachel heard it.

_Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck  
Some nights, I call it a draw  
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle  
Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off_

_But I still wake up, I still see your ghost  
Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh  
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?  
Most nights, I don't know anymore..._

'Oh, I love this song!'-Rachel and Santana said at the same time-'Lets go dance!'-the latter added and started walking towards the dance floor but as Rachel was about to take Brody's hand to dance with him, Santana stopped her-'Oh no honey, it's my turn to dance with straight-sexy-god here, you can have curly freak'- she told her pointing Blaine.

'Ok, come on Blaine, lets dance!'-but she was cut short once again, only this time it was Kurt who blocked her way to her friend.

'NO!...emmm.. I mean, here take Finn!'-He said pulling some huge guy by the arm when he was clearly heading to grab something to eat from a nearby table and shoved him towards her-'He doesn't really dance per se but together you'll manage! Now go'- And just like that she was pushed to the dance floor with a complete stranger.

'Ok, this is awkward… amm … my name is Finn by the way.'

_'Oh! So this is the famous Finn Hudson'-She thought to herself, Kurt had talked about him more than once, he was so proud of him and she could see why, he seemed to be a real gentlemen._

'Nice to meet you, I'm Rachel… emmm, we don't have to dance you know? It's ok, you can get back to whatever you were doing and I'll just wander around or maybe look for Sophie...' she trailed off wondering where she could find the little girl.

'You mean little Sophie Weston?'-He questioned

'Yes'-She answered a bit hesitantly-'How do you know her?'

'Oh! I met her a while ago, she saw me playing with my phone and found it interesting so she asked me if she could give it a try and since then she's been playing nonstop.'-He told her pushing lightly her shoulders enabling her to see a very deep in thought Sophie staring at the small screen-'She's already a pro'- He added chuckling.

'Oh my god, I am so sorry, I can assure you she didn't mean to intrude. I'll go get her right away and get you your phone back.'

'Oh no, please, she seems to be having a good time, and she didn't intrude, not at all, she actually saved me from a social suicide, a 25-year-old like me playing with his mobile on a party does not seem normal, does it?'-He said a bit embarrassed but laughing nonetheless-'Is she your daughter?'

As strange as it may sound Rachel did not know how to answer that question. She wasn't her biological mother nor was she her legal guardian, but more often than not when they went shopping together or as she tucked her in bed she felt as if she were. So she decided to tell the truth without going into too much detail- 'She's not really my biological child but I love her as if she were'.

'That's a very nice thing to say'-He said wholeheartedly. He completely understood, he felt the exact same way (only the other way round) when it came to his relationship with Burt, his stepfather.-'So, um… would you like to dance with me or should I be scared of a jealous `boyfriend-fiancée-husband` and just keep standing here in the middle of the dance floor awkwardly?'

'No, no need to worry'- she said and giggled-'And I'd love to dance, than you'

'Last minute warning though, I may not be a very good dancer… Honestly, I suck so be careful, I really don't want to hurt you'

She giggled some more, he was so sweet.-'I'll take my chances'

'Ok, but remember, you've been warned'-After that, they fell into a comfortable silence while swaying to the beat, nothing too complex for both their sakes, and a couple songs later they started chatting. They talked for what seemed hours, she told him about being an actress in this industry and listened when he told her about his job as a firefighter. Well, than explained his scarlet colored mask, it must represent fire or something of that sort.

'Wow, you must be so brave, risking your life for other people you don't really know, you are a true hero!'

'Why, thank you, but I'm not really that great, I mean, I just follow orders and stuff like that.'-He shrugged nonchalantly.

'Nonsense! You really are a hero, what you do is really honorable, and everyone should look up to you.'-She stated.

'Well they do, I'm like a foot taller than most people so they need to if they want to look at me in the eye'-He said chuckling.

'That's not what I meant and you know it!'-She scolded at him playfully.

'Yeah I know, but I could help myself'-Finn said laughing.

After that he asked her how had she met Kurt and she told him all about Wicked. He complimented her performance, he had seen the show on opening night and even though he didn't know that much about Broadway, he was completely taken aback by how good the whole production was. She blushed as he praised her voice for her rendition of `I'm Not That Girl`. Sure she did get compliments all the time, and she had no doubt that her voice was magnificent, she wouldn't have made it that far if it wasn't, but there was something about being him the one who said it that made it a whole lot more special.

'Thank you, that means a lot'-she said shyly.

'I take it you know I am Kurt's brother, otherwise you would have asked already'-He assumed.

'Yes, as I said before, we became very close and he has told me a lot about you'-She replayed, thankful that he had brought the subject back to Kurt since her face couldn't get any redder for his compliments.

'All good things I hope...'

'Well he did mention you breaking a poor girl's nose back in high school due to you impeccable dancing skills and praying to a cheese sandwich so I'd say yes, all positive things no doubt about that.'-she told him laughing.

Now it was his turn to blush, he was going to kill Kurt right after the cake.

'Yeah well…'-He really didn't know what to say-'Ok, I give up, there is no way I can get out of that, it is all true.'-He whispered rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Which Rachel found incredibly cute.

'Don't worry; he also talked about how you had his back during high school even before your parents got married. How you protected him from all those bullies, and I must say, that means the world, take it from someone with two gay fathers who were awfully harassed when they were youngsters. I wish Daddy and Papa had had such a strong and supportive friend like you back then.'-She spoke seriously now and when she took a glimpse at Finn, he had visibly stiffened remembering all those outrageous experiences his brother went through only because he was into boys. All those nights he heard him cry himself to sleep, all the suffering, the threats, he remembered it all, he had his eyes shut and tried to push away those horrible thoughts but found it impossible. That was until Rachel placed her small hand in his chest and said-'Hey, it's okay, what's past is past, now he is only surrounded by people who love him and respect him, and he is able to be himself mainly because of you.'-She could feel his muscles relax under her touch but he was still with his eyes closed, he looked so vulnerable, so helpless and she couldn't take it any longer, she just hugged him tightly. And just like that, he fully relaxed.

'Do you want to go out and get some fresh air?'-She dared to ask as they pulled away from the embrace.

'Yes, I'd like that very much, thank you'-He answered.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Once outside, they chatted about trivial things, nothing too important.

'I am sorry, I shouldn't have reacted that way, you were right, it was long ago and I should be over it by now'-he said suddenly.

'Hey, it's okay to have feelings; you should never apologize for expressing what you feel, never.'

'Still, I am sorry if a ruined your night and I just wanted to say thank you for helping me even though we barely know each other.'-He continued.

'Oh please, you didn't ruin it at all, on the contrary I got to meet you and it was a real pleasure. As for not knowing each other much, I think you are wrong, I know you are freakishly tall, handsome, brave, ruthless, supportive, a little bit shy and last but not least, a terrible dancer.'-She tried keeping a straight face 'till the end but laughter got the best of her and a little giggle escaped her lips and he couldn't help but laugh too.

'Yeah, that pretty much sums it all'-He told her getting closer and closer by the second-'Thank you, I mean it'

'You are more than welcome'-She replayed without breaking eye contact with him and just as she thought they would kiss-

'Rachel!'-Little Sophie appeared from out of nowhere shouting her name which made them take a huge step away from each other.-'Oh there you are! Hey, I want to go to the restroom, would you come with me please?-She asked before noticing Finn's presence-'Oh hi Finn!'

'Hi Sophie! So it's true what they say then, women always go to the bathroom together, interesting.'-Finn said.

'Of course they do! Haven't you seen Harry Potter?'-When he nodded she continued-'Didn't you see what happened to Hermione when she went to the bathroom on her own!? There was a TROLL!'-She said as if it were a matter of fact.

'Fair point well made'-He told her kneeling so that they were at the same eye level, well not really but close enough.-'So, can I have my phone back?'

'Mmmmm, I don't know…'-She answered playfully.

'Sophie…'-Rachel said in a stern voice.

'Okay, okay, here you go.'- She said returning the little gadget.-'Can we go now?'

'Yes, of course darling'-Rachel told her taking her hand in hers and smiling at her sweetly.

'Ok, so I will see you ladies in a while, but if we don't happen to bump into each other again; goodnight.'-Finn told them and made his way back to the party.

When he was already inside Sophie grinned at Rachel.-'I completely approve, you know? He is very good looking and funny, he could be your prince charming!'

'Easy there Cinderella, I just met him a couple hours ago, but I'll let you know if anything else happens'-She would be lying if she said she didn't hope so, but the little girl didn't need to know that, not right now at least.

'I know, I just want you to know that you would look so good together and he is really cute!'-She wouldn't argue that.


	2. I could use somebody like you

**a/n: so, sorry for brochel haters but i love brody as a friend for rachel. That said, I am all for finchel but it seemes ryan isnt. As you may have noticed the title of each chapter is a song. chapter one was some nights by Fun and this one use somebody by kings of leon though i highly recommend Pixie lott´s version. OK, bye  
**

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**

**Chapter 2**

**I could use somebody like you.**

As it turns out they did see each other again that nigh. Kurt had not only picked a certain mask for each guest but also a special seat in different tables, so that's how she found herself seating between Brody and Finn in a table for 10 completed by Santana, Sophie, Blaine, Marley, Kurt of course, and his parents.

'And so we meet again.'-He told her playfully

'That seems to be the case, yeah.'-She cut him short in a stern voice not even looking at him when she talked, her attitude caught him by surprise but he quickly recovered.

'I am sorry but did I do something wrong? If I did, please accept my apology, I was completely unaware of the fact that I had hurt you in any way.'-He said sincerely and she could hear the uneasiness in his voice.

'Are you going really going to play fool? I thought you were better than that. I mean, you can't be_ that_ clueless.'-She now spoke looking at him directly in the eye, brown, fierce, angry ones to scared, confused, cinnamon colored ones-'What you did was terrible, Finn Hudson. I have to admit though, out of all the men in this room, you were the one I expected it the least; I actually thought you were different, I liked you. I don't understand, why would you do something like that!?'

_´Oh god, oh god_´, had he screwed up already? '_This must be a new record dumbass_'-he thought to himself, how long had he known her? Three hours tops and she already hated him. And the worst part was that he really was absolutely clueless! _'Oh god, Finn think! What have you done since you last saw her? ´_He hadn't done anything wrong, at least intentionally, so he just gave up.

´I am truly sorry, I have no idea what I did to you, but I apologize. I promise I won´t bother you ever again.'- He told her saddened by the fact that he would never see her again.

'Finn, you are so …'- She started.

He knew what came next; it could be ´disgusting´ or ´stupid´ or maybe even both. It wouldn't be surprising really, he had heard them all.

That´s why he was shocked when he heard her say ´lovable´.

´Sorry, come again.´- He must have misunderstood, it made no sense if he hadn't.

She repeated slowly and clearly-'I said that you, Finn Hudson, are so lovable.'- Her face only showed love and kindness now, and he felt like the dumbest guy on earth because he was completely at loss, he couldn't understand what was happening. Wasn't she like, really mad at him a second ago?

Since it was obvious he wasn't quite getting the joke, she added, laughing hard-'I was just messing with you darling.'

She hadn't stop laughing when he said under his breath, his voice almost a whisper-'That hurt a lot, I don't see how that's funny. That was just mean, I was convinced I had screwed up badly.'-He turned so she couldn't see his face.

'Oh no, Finn, I was just kidding.'-She said placing a hand on his shoulder-'I am so sorry, you are right I shouldn't have done it, please forgive me. It was c-'- she didn't get to finish since Finn erupted laughing as if there were no tomorrow.

'GOT YOU!'- He told her and kept on laughing.

'Oh, you jackass!'- She scolded but bent with laughter too.

Meanwhile Kurt watched the scene unfold in front of him silently, if the way they had danced together earlier that night hadn't been enough proof that they were perfect for each other, this had to be it. He knew both of them well and was sure that Finn could use somebody like Rachel and Rachel someone like his brother.

He hadn't really thought about how perfectly they matched before that night, but looking at them now, it was clear. Little Broadway diva and ruthless, kind of Neanderthal, firefighter would be a couple in not time.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Making Rachel and Finn sit next to each other was one of the best things Kurt had done. Over dinner, Finn learned the whole story about Sophie and it amazed him how much Santana, Blaine, Brody and Rachel cared for each other. Only a true friend gives up his or her bachelor pad to go live with other 3 people and helps you take care of a child it´s not theirs.

There was one thing Finn had still to figure out though, and that was Rachel´s relationship status. He had obviously developed a small crush on her while they were dancing, and knowing how she had taken care of Sophie as if she were her own, had only helped it develop. But her relationship with Brody was kind of a mystery for him, they didn't kiss or hold hands at any point but the way they looked at each other was enough to make him wonder if they were together. They didn't look at each other with lust or kind of flirty, not at all, but it was clear that they shared a deep bond which could either mean they were really close friends, almost like brother and sister or very, _very_ in love. Finn really hoped it was the first one.

'Finn, since you already danced with Rachel, and I heard her say you weren't _that_ bad-'-Sophie was saying when Rachel interrupted her shouting -´SOPHIE!'- But the little girl seemed oblivious to it so she kept on-'Would you dance with me too, please?'

'Of course, would you like to start with this song? It´s one of my favorites'- He said whilst standing from his sit and offering the youngest member of the group his arm.

I've been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see  
Painted faces fill the places I can't reach  
You know that I could use somebody  
You know that I could use somebody

Someone like you and all you know and how you speak  
Countless lovers under cover of the street  
You know that I could use somebody  
You know that I could use somebody  
Someone like you

'Yes, I love it too!'- And just like that, they took off to the dance floor.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

'I approve too, you know?'- Rachel heard Brody say.

'What are you talking about?'-She answered a little distractedly, truth be told, she had been staring at Finn and Sophie dance since the very beginning, and as bad as it may sound she was a little jealous of the latter.

'That's exactly what I am talking about, you almost drooling for over there, and I wanted you to know that I approve. He seems like a good guy, Sophie likes him and he is clearly interested in you so I´d say, why not give it a try?'

'Do you really think it could work?'-She asked fearful to what her friend would answer-'I would never abandon you and Sophie for someone else, that's no who I am, and I highly doubt he´d be interested in a half time relationship.'

'I don't think it could work.'-He told her to her dismay.-'I know so.'-With that, her face lit up as if she had been told she had won her first Tony.-'So I suggest you go over there, tell Sophie I am looking for her and dance with him some more.'

'Thank you Brody'- She told him while giving him a big hug.

'Hey, you´ve always been there for me when I needed you the most, it´s only fair I return the favor.'-He said patting her back delicately.-'But just so you know, I am going to play cold and overprotective with him since you don't have an older brother to do that for you.'

'Ok, just don't be too harsh with him if anything does happen between us'- and she truly hoped it did, she had had a blast just talking to Finn and he seemed her perfect match therefore, she really wanted him to make a move or something!

'I can't promise you anything'-He said chuckling- 'Now go!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Finn and Rachel had danced a little but decided to just sit and talk and save her from broken toes.

'May I ask you something a little personal?'- He said shyly, near the end of the party.

'Sure, shoot.'-She replayed eagerly.

'Are you… are you and Brody, like ummm… a thing?'-He asked staring at the floor, too embarrassed to even look at her in the eye.

'If by that you mean extremely close friends for which I would die for, yes. But if you mean a couple, no, the four of us are single. Wait, Blaine is off the market now, so that leaves Santana, Brody and me. And Sophie, but I won´t let a boy near her until she is at least 20.'-She answered pretty fast.

'Great!'-He almost fist pumped the air but controlled himself.-'I mean, cool… So ummm, would you like to go for coffee with me or something?'

'Like right now? It´s 4.30 in the morning'-She told him glimpsing her watch. His face fell immediately, how could he be so stupid? Who would go for coffee before the sun is even up? As soon as she saw his reaction she added-'I´d love to, though.'

She swore the grin on his face could light up a whole stadium. And there was no doubt, the one on her face was just the same.


	3. everything has changed

**a/n: ok, i love the response this FF is getting, unfortunately i wont be able to update until after Christmas. This chapter is mainly happy Finchel moments but later ones will bring some drama with them. Last but not least, this chapter is named after Taylor Swift´s song featuring Ed Sheeran.**

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**

**Chapter 3**

**Everything has changed.**

The party had come to an end, most of the guests had left leaving Kurt and Blaine, Finn still talking with Rachel, Marley helping a very drunk Santana get on her feet without crumbling down to the floor, a blond-headed girl shearing a laugh with a curly haired guy and a very energetic Sophie running around with a not so energetic Brody chasing after her.

Although Rachel really wanted to go with Finn, she feared her friends would feel betrayed if she left them for a date. Fortunately, that problem was quickly solved when the drunk Latina spotted the promising couple slowly getting closer to each other inch by inch.-'For god´s sake Berry, fuck him already!'- Santana shouted before Marley reacted and tackled her trying the get her to shut up.-'The poor guy has been listening to your rambling all day, he deserves a place in your bed tonight.'-She was able to add whilst wrestling with Marley over her freedom. Once she was able to shove the skinny girl off her body she finished-'And since I know that if it were up to you, you´d make him wait a billion years, I am forbidding you of getting into my car so you need to ask him for a ride!'- She screamed pointing towards Finn. Then, addressing everyone left at the place she sang- 'Ooh god, I am so awesome, I am a bitch but you all love me!'-At least it seemed that she had attempted to sing because let´s just say that alcohol did not help her do it any better, no doubt about that.

Rachel was thankful Santana had drawn all the attention back to herself, catching a glimpse at Finn she saw his face was bright scarlet and hers was probably even redder, and of course, they had backed away from each other.

'So, umm… would you drive me home?'-She asked shyly.

'Yeah, no problem'-He answered without missing a beat.-'Just give mi a minute, I came here with a friend and I want to make sure he finds a way back home too.'

Rachel nodded and watched as Finn made his way to the curly haired guy. They talked for a second and as Finn was saying his goodbyes, she caught the stranger smiling at her. Finn motioned for her to join them and she happily obeyed.

'Rachel, I want you to meet Jesse , my best friend, and Jesse, meet Rachel Berry, Kurt´s best friend.'- Finn introduced them.

'A pleasure to meet you Ms. Berry.'-Jesse said smirking at her.-'I have to tell you though, you kidnaped my boy here for the whole night, and I _almost_ missed him. But then I remembered I still have to deal with him all day tomorrow and so that completely stopped.'-He added playfully punching the taller man in the arm, which he reciprocated.

'The pleasure is all mine, and please call me Rachel.'-She answered between giggles.

'Will do.'- then turning to Finn he said-'Ok, now I get why you are ditching me, she really is hot as hell'

'JESSE!'-Finn scolded punching him with a lot more strength this time.

'…and completely out of my league, you should have left me finish! You know I´d never hit on a girl you are interested in, man! I am better than that!'-He finished quickly.

'You better.'-Finn told him sternly but you could see they were just messing with each other.

'Yeah, well, I can´t promise you anything.'-Jesse replayed winking at Rachel making her blush.-'I´m just joking! Hey!'-He winced when Finn punched him once again.

'So, I´ll see you tomorrow?'- Finn asked when they were leaving.

'Of course, me and my kids will kick your and your kid´s butt!'-Jesse answered. After that they said their goodbyes and went to Finn´s car.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

'So, what was Jesse talking about before we left? The thing about kids.'-She asked curiously.

'Nothing really, we just coach two different teams in the little leagues, baseball. And tomorrow it's the first time we will play against each other.'-He answered nonchalantly.

'It´s so nice of you guys to do that.'

'Thank you, you should come to the match tomorrow, it would be nice to have someone cheering for me.'-He told her while driving.-'I mean, if you want to, and have nothing to do in the afternoon…Ummm, just forget I just said tha-.'

'Hey, I´d love to, I´ll be there.'-She cut him sweetly.

'Cool. Now lets get our coffee and I´ll drop you home.'-He said with a huge smile on his face.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They entered the cafe in a comfortable silence but once they were seated with their drinks in hand, they talked nonstop.

'So, how long have you known Jesse?'-she asked.

'We go way back! He transferred to my school on junior year in high school and became my friend instantly. He was actually my rock when all the bullying got the best of me.'-He said remembering all those times Jesse had stood up for him in football practice after other jocks made fun of Kurt and him. 'He is also the reason I became a firefighter, I was actually thinking of pursuing a business career until I visited his station during one of his shifts. The moment the alarm went off, I just knew that that was what I wanted to do, so I signed in the following day, and here I am.'

'That´s a really nice story.'-She told him.

Rachel was falling hard for the guy but she couldn't help it, in her eyes, he was kind of perfect. She was going to take things slow though, she didn't want to scare him off or get a broken heart as a souvenir. However, all those thoughts flew through the window when she saw those cute dimples in his cheeks as he smirked at her, he was so adorable. Feeling like doing it, she leaned forward supporting her weight in her elbows on the table and just kissed him.

After breaking the kiss, she stared at his eyes and saw him looking right back with the same intensity. They stood up and left the shop silently and holding hands. Once outside they met a not so good surprise; it was pouring, leaving them soaking wet the second the set foot on the street. It was a pity; she was really looking forward to making out with him outside the café. Apparently Finn had wished the same but in his case, rain wasn't a problem. So, without a word he pulled her towards his body and placed his hands on either side of her hips. Lowering his head, he caught her lips once more and this time he didn't let go that quickly.

She got lost in the kiss, it was… simply perfect. She completely forgot about the heavy rain, the fact that she hadn't slept even a tiny bit and she wouldn't be able to for the rest of the day, nothing else mattered. The only thing she could focus on was Finn´s lips on hers.

All too soon for their liking, they had to break apart due to lack of air. Nevertheless, Finn impressed Rachel with his sweetness once again by resting his forehead against hers while whispering soothing words and stocking her back gently.

'I better take you home before either of us catches a cold.'-He told her taking her hand in his and leading her to the car. Just as he had done before, he opened the car door for her and helped her in but before he could close it, she pulled from his tie making him bend till they were at the same eye level and kissed him deeply.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They were at her front door saying goodbye to each other. They had been doing that for quite a long time, neither of them wanting to let go, it wasn't until the 28th goodbye kiss that they managed to break apart.

'I´ll see you in a while then'- He told her in a husky voice.

'Yes, text me the address and I´ll be there.'-She answered kissing him one last time, making it the 29th kiss in the last 40 minutes.-'Goodbye, Finn.'

'Goodbye, Rachel.'

And with that, she turned away and made her way into her house. He must not have noticed that she turned around one last time half way to the door because if he had, he probably wouldn't have done some ridiculous victory dance he did.

Rachel couldn't help but laugh, he was so adorable.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

She woke up five hours later, her mind instantly recalling all the major events from the night before; arriving to the party, dancing with _him, _her talk with Brody, leaving with _him_, pouring rain, _that_ kiss, Finn.

She heard her phone beep and sure enough there it was; Finn´s text. They had exchanged numbers at the coffee house and she smiled when a picture of him in his suit with his trademarked lopsided grin. When she opened the message it read:

_Hey, the match will be held at Central Park Court, no need to explain how to get there right? It is due to start at 4 o clock or so. Hope to see u there. (Sorry if I woke you up)_

She took a glimpse at the alarm clock she kept in her nightstand and saw she still had five hours to spare so there was no need to hurry. Picking her phone up once more, she typed a quick answer and got back to sleep_._

_Wouldn't miss it for the world. I´ll be there, good luck! Xoxo._

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

Finn gathered his team around and thought of something meaningful to say, but, as always, words seemed to fail him and he ended up just standing there awkwardly.

'Ok guys, just do your best and remember, have fun!'-Basically that was all he wanted them to keep in mind so he just said it, straight and simple-'ok, Renters on three; one, two, three… RENTERS!'

As the game started, he dared to look at the bleachers and to his relief there she was, waving eagerly at him. He chuckled and waved back just as excitedly, she looked so beautiful he couldn't believe how lucky he was.

From the other side of the court, Jesse watched silently. He knew his best friend like the back of his hand, therefore he knew Finn was falling hard for the girl and really quickly too, but that didn't worry him, not at all, since it was obvious that she was equally hung up on him.

He was sure as hell, he would be hearing the name Rachel for a long time from now on.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

'Wouldn't wanna be you in this moment'-Jesse told him teasingly after when the match finished, Finn´s team returning home empty-handed.

'Oh, I am glad I am me.'- He replayed smiling at Rachel who was approaching them with a huge smile on her.

'Hey there.'-She said sweetly giving him a kiss-'Hello to you too Jesse, and congratulations on the win.'

'And are those kisses only meant for the member of the losing team?'-He teased

As expected Finn punched him, not hurting him too much of course, just enough for him to shut up and told him-'Yes they are.'-Then turning to Rachel-'Hi Star, how was your morning? Hope this wasn't too boring for you.'

'Are you kidding me? It kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time! And my morning was good, thank you very much.'

'Ok then, since I am starting to feel like a third wheel here, I am gonna take off. Have fun and use protection!'-Jesse said walking away.

'JESSE!'-Both Finn and Rachel shouted.

'Sorry for that.'-He apologized rubbing the back of his neck.-'Would you like to go somewhere now or are busy?'

'Sure, what did you have in mind?'-She asked as he took her hand and guided her towards his car.

'Well I was thinking maybe we could take a walk along the park and have some dinner later.'

'That sounds perfect.'-She smiled and kissed his cheek.

If you had told her a day earlier that that Sunday afternoon she would end up wandering around Central Park holding hands with Kurt´s brother, she would have probably laughed at you and told you you had gone mad but there she was, feeling things she thought she would never feel that soon.

She found it crazy, how much everything had changed.

If only things stayed like that forever.


	4. Believe in the gift of a friend

**a/n: Hello, merry christmas. So, next chapter comes in with a whole lot of drama so be prepared. On a brighter note, I wanted your opinion on which boy should i introduce as Marley's love interest in the future: Jake or Ryder? xoxo (the title comes from Demi Lovato's song 'Gift of a friend') **

**Broadway, meet NYFD**

**Chapter 3**

**Believe in the gift of a friend.**

It had been five months since Kurt's party and Finn and Rachel had been all over each other 24/7 since then. And much to Santana's dislike, most of their 'acts of love' took place at hers and Rachel's apartment.

'Oh for god's sake! I'd tell you to get a room but your room is right next to mine and you are both really loud, so just stop for a sec, ok?'-The Latina begged after catching them making out on the couch for the twentieth time this week.

'Sorry Sanny.'-Rachel said apologetically but not really sorry.

'What's up Santana?'- Finn greeted from beneath Rachel.

'Hey Finnegan, I've got to ask you something later.'

'Oh, please don't tell it's gonna be like the talk I had with Brody.'-Finn said remembering the awkward exchange.

'No Finn, it has nothing to do with you and Diva, it's about me and a mystery woman.'

'And what do I have to do with that?'-Finn asked puzzled as for why would Santana ask him for relationship advice.

'Well, I've been meaning to ask your brother but he is nowhere to be found unless you look in Blaine's bed, which I won't.'-She explained quickly.

'Ok, shoot.'-Finn told her, still clueless as to what she would ask him about.

'The thing is, I don't remember much about the party due to obvious reasons, I mean, I ended up pretty wasted.'

'No doubt about that …'-Rachel commented under her breath.

'Shut it diva.'-Santana hissed.-'Back to the matter at hand, I don't remember much, but I do remember a sexy blonde dancing with me and I believe her name was Britney. I need to find her Giantator, that's where you come in, do you know her?'-She asked a bit desperately.

'I know a blonde called Brittany, but I don't think she'd be interested Santana, she went home with Jesse and from what I've heard, they have spent more than one night together.'- He replayed a bit distracted by Rachel who was combing his hair sweetly.

'I don't care. I need to find her. Please tell me where to find her. Please.'-Finn had never seen Santana in such a vulnerable position, and from the look on Rachel's face, neither had her.

'Please Finn, it must be really important if she's like this.'-His girlfriend, yeah his _girlfriend_, whispered in his ear.

'Yeah, of course, I'll take you to her, tomorrow is my free day if you want to. She works with Kurt as a model during the day and as a dancer in a couple shows at night time. '

'Thank you Frankenstein. Consider ourselves even for the time I walked on you two doing it in the kitchen.'-She said retreating to her room.-'I seriously don't wanna see _that_ again, EVER.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Three months earlier.

It was a typical Tuesday morning and Rachel had come over with breakfast, which was really awesome. After that, they walked together to the station in which he works, however, once they were there, someone he wasn't expecting was waiting for him.

'Brody?'-Rachel asked confused, why on earth was _her_ best friend there?

'Hi Rachel, how are you doing?'-Brody greeted completely oblivious to the look on his friend's face.

'I'm good, but what are you doing here?'

'I am ok too, thank you very much.'-He said teasingly.-'And I am here to talk to Finn. Alone.'

Finn was completely taken aback by what he had told them, he hadn't done anything wrong, had he? _Could it be that he was jealous of him, that he actually wanted Rachel as more than just his friend and he was planning on killing him to get him out of the picture_? All this went through Finn's mind as he stood there awkwardly.

_Could it be the story was repeating itself? Except for the part of murdering him of course.-He thought to himself._

_Finn had gone through something similar when he was younger. Long story short, when Finn was in high school, he was in love. His girlfriend, Quinn Fabray was the sweetest, kindest and most beloved person on school, and he was so proud of being her boyfriend. Furthermore, she was one of the reasons Finn was a good guy since he wanted to be the very best so as to deserve her. For example, one day he saw Quinn protecting Kurt from some bitchy teacher named Sue and that inspired him to become the perfect gentleman._

_He really was in love, he thought he had found the perfect girl, and he adored her with all his might. But unfortunately for him, she just didn't feel the same._

_Quinn liked Finn, and she knew they would share a bright future together but she just didn't love him. She knew he would never cheat on her and she wouldn't either, however, she wanted passion in her life, the kind of love she read in all those Nicholas Sparks novels she owned. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't a bitch and led Finn on just for the attention or stuff he got her as most people assumed, the problem was that since he was such a great boy, she just couldn't tell him no. That was until he 'proposed'._

_Way before Finn and Quinn got together, she met Sam Evans and they hit it off very well actually. They attended the same church and their families were pretty close so they became best friends in no time._

_In all honesty, Finn had felt quite jealous and a bit annoyed at the beginning with Sam tagging along in almost everything he and Quinn did, but he learned to look past it. He never asked Quinn how she really felt about him though, and that was the greatest mistake he ever did._

_On the last day of senior year, after celebrating their second anniversary together, he kind of proposed. He got on one knee and took out a ring and said: 'Quinn, I know we are young and there is still a lot of things we both want to do out there. I am not asking you to give up those experiences, I am asking for you permission to be right by your side through all of them.'_

_-'Finn, are you proposing to me?'-She had asked in disbelief._

_-'Not now, but if you take this promise ring, I swear one day I will. Quinn you are the most awesome girl I ever met, and I don't wanna let you go.'_

_There was an awkward silence then, which was only broke by her saying; 'I am sorry, but no.'_

_And with that, she left the room crying her eyes out._

_Turns out, Quinn did have feelings for Sam, and while he was trying to comfort her after Finn 'popped the question', they both decided to act on them. So, not only did Finn had to dwell on the fact that he was girlfriendless, but he also had to suffer a graduation party in which everyone talked about him, Sam and Quinn whilst, of course, the last two where sucking each other's faces nonstop. He was not alone though, thank God, Jesse and Kurt got his back._

So, yeah, that made Finn a bit reluctant to jump back into a relationship right away but he got over it. He still had an issue with his girlfriend's straight male friends though, but it wasn't as if he would lock her up and forbid her from having friends, he knew better than that.

-'So Finn, a word, please?-Brody asked getting back his attention.

-'Yeah, sure.'-Turning to Rachel he told her-'See you later, babe?'

-'Yes, call me.'- She gave him a chaste kiss and walked away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Once inside the station, Finn led Brody to his superior's office where they would be able to talk without being disturbed.

-'Well, ummm... what brings you here? Can I help you with something?'-Finn asked.

-'The thing is Finn, as you already know, Rachel is an only child. Therefore, she has no big brother to protect her and that's where I come in.'-Brody answered seriously.

Finn just sat there, silently, so he kept on talking.

-'I care for her a lot and I don't want her to end up with a broken heart. She was there for me whenever I needed her so I got her back here. Please be completely honest with me, Finn; which are your intentions with her?'- He questioned sternly.

Finn was shocked, out of all the possible scenarios he pictured in his head, he never saw this coming.

-'Ummm… man, I swear, I care for her too, in fact, I love her. And I want only good things for her, you know? I just want her to be happy, and if I get to be with her whilst making sure she is, well, that's even better.'-Finn spoke with his heart.-'Rachel is the most fascinating girl I've ever meet, and I am sure as hell I will never meet someone as special as her, so there is no need for you to worry. I still can't believe she is interested in me, but she is and my heart is hers, therefore I would never leave her unless I was sure it was for her absolute best.'-He finished.

-'That's all I wanted to hear.'-Brody told him grinning, but became serious once again a second later and added.-'But if you hurt her, I will kill you.'- And there was no doubt he wasn't kidding.

-'I won't, I promise.'-He replayed equally serious.

-'Good. I'll let you get back to work then. Have a good day Finn.'- The shorter but equally intimidating man said as they shook hands.

-'Bye.'- But as Brody was about to leave, Finn stopped him.-'Brody, wait. I just wanted to tell you; you are a really good friend, Rachel is lucky to have you.'

-'Thanks, that means a lot, but truth be told; it's me who is lucky to have her.'-Brody smiled and looked at him in the eye.-'And she is lucky to have you too.'

After the exchange, Finn and Brody's relationship noticeably improved and soon enough they became buddies.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Present day: 5 weeks after Santana had asked him about Brittany.

Finn had just started his 36-hour-long shift when Jesse came busting through the door.

-'Did I do something to you? Do you hate me or something?'-Jesse kind of shouted.

-'What? No! You know you are my best friend, what are you talking about?'-Finn asked puzzled.

-'Finn, did you or did you not set up Santana and Brittany together?'- Jesse questioned a little more calmly.

-'Oh yeah, about that, I swear to God I didn't know she would end up being lesbian too!'-He apologized.

-'For God's sake Finn! The girl would sleep with a squirrel if it were up to her! I can't believe you did this to me! We may not have been in love like you and Rachel but what we had was good! I could call her and have her at my bed every other weekend if I wanted it. You are always telling me to settle down but when I kind of do, you take her away from me! Now she won't return my calls because apparently she is in a committed relationship with that Santana girl. What the hell dude!?'-

-'I am sorry man, I truly am. How can I repay you? You name it, I'll do it.'-

-'You are lucky I can't stay mad at you for too long. As for payback, we will come up with something, I am sure of it.'- Jesse said smirking.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'I have a question to ask you.'- Finn said as him and Rachel were curled up in bed.

-'What is it?'-She asked turning to face him.

-'When should we celebrate our six-month anniversary? I mean, we met at Kurt's party which was on May the 21st but it was already the 22nd when we went for coffee and to my mind our first proper date was after the baseball match. So, which one should it be?'-

-'I don't know. Why don't we celebrate it at midnight?'-

-'Midnight it is then.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'Hey, I've decided what I want you to do to pay me back for the Brittany thing.'-Jesse told Finn while they were lifting some weights at the station.

-'Ok, what is it?'- Finn asked intrigued.

-'I want you to switch shifts with me a couple of times.'

-'Yeah, no problem. I need next Thursday and the 6th of December free though. It's our six-month anniversary with Rachel next week and Sophie has her first kind of concert on December, she asked me to be there, so I can't miss it.'

-'Ok, we both have free the 21st and 22nd so there is no problem there, as for the 6th of December, I'll take it if you cover for me from the 11th up to the 13th, my sister will be visiting and I want to spend as much time with her as I possibly can.'

-'Sure.'-Finn said nonchalantly.

-'Thanks bro, you've got no idea how much I've missed her.'

-'Hey, best friends remember?'-Finn told him and got up so they could do their little personal salute.-'What about the second switch? When would you like that one to happen?'

-'I don't know, maybe mid-December. We'll see later.'-Jesse answered shrugging.

-'Ok, just let me know with a bit of time so that I can notify Rachel and she can arrange our dates without messing with both our schedules.'-Finn smiled as he talked.

-'owwww, look at you all smitten over this girl.'-Jesse teased him.

-'Oh, shut up!'

The boys went back to work out while chatting about the usual; football, old times, jokes, their families and of course women, only now that Finn was in a relationship and Jesse kept on being the restless bachelor he always was, they had different opinions over the matter.

Finn would be forever grateful for the fact that he had Jesse as a friend. Never, not even once, had he thought that he would be where he was at the moment if it wasn't for his help. Furthermore, it would have been so hard to do it all on his own that he probably wouldn't had made it. Since day one he knew he could count on Jesse, he never let him down, always beside him wherever he'd go. Even when his hopes and dreams came crashing down when he was young and he felt so, so alone, he really wasn't.

That is why it is so heartbreaking to think that they would never get to actually do the second switch due to a horrible accident.


	5. When we are together

**A/N: a little more fluff before all the drama comes down. Enjoy, oh ! and happy new year! **

**title from the song We own the night by none other than Selena Gomez**

**Broadway, meet the NYFD.**

**Chapter 5**

**When we are together is the time of our lives.**

Unbelievably, tomorrow was their 6-month anniversary; to her mind time had gone by in the blink of an eye. Rachel was gathering her stuff after another full-house night, her performance as one of her dream roles, Elphaba in Wicked, flawless, as always. Whilst she signed a few autographs at the backstage door and took some pictures with her fans, one of her cast mates approached her.

-'Hey Berry, I've got a question to ask you.'- It was Cassandra July, an exceptional dancer who was casted as Glinda after Marley gave up the part to play Nessarose, Elphaba's younger sister. Rachel never understood her decision but Marley said that she felt way more comfortable playing that role than her original one.

-'Hi Cassandra, how can I help you?'- She asked politely. Cassandra wasn't as friendly or outgoing as Marley or Kurt but she seemed nice enough.

Before answering, Cassandra ushered her inside the theatre again where they were met by a much quieter and peaceful environment.-'Listen Rachel, I think I may have a thing for your friend Brody here and I need information. Is he seeing anyone? Has he ever talked about me? Everything of that sort.'-The blonde said a bit desperately.- 'If you are free we could discuss it over coffee.'

-'Sorry darling, I don't like to gossip about my friends, I am not like that.'-Rachel stated firmly.

-'Tell me what you want and I'll get it for you.'

-'My best friend's secrets are not for sale, Cassie.'-The petit brunet tried to explain.

-'Everyone's got a price, Rachel. I just have to find out which one is yours.'-Cassandra commented deep in thought.

-'Everyone but me that is.'- The she said before walking out of the theatre.

However, she stopped in her tracks when she heard her co-star say:-'You know, I've got VIP tickets for Barbra Streisand's concert and a signed copy of her upcoming auto-biopic which, might I add, is set to release next year.'- She was still not facing Cassandra, but she could just _feel_ her smirking at her.

Immediately after, she turned and told her:-'Are you free now or do you want to rain check for that coffee?'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'Wow, Rachel you look stunning,'- Finn said completely mesmerized by her looks.

-'Thank you.'-She said blushing.-'You look ravishing too.'

-'Thanks. You ready to go?'-He asked and offered her his arm.

-'Yeah, just let me get my purse.'-As Rachel walked away, Jesse came in with Sophie on his shoulders.

-'Thanks again for doing this, man. I owe you one.'-Finn told him wholeheartedly, truth was, if it weren't for Jesse, he wouldn't have been able to take Rachel out to celebrate since no one could look over Sophie.

-'No problem. We are gonna have the best time, aren't we pretty girl?'- Jesse said playfully.

-'YES! Cause we both rock!'- She answered excitedly.

-'That's right, high five!'-

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'Why did Jesse shave his head? I thought he was proud of his curly messy hair.'-Rachel asked intrigued as for why someone who praised his hair as a –his words not hers—'chicks magnet' would suddenly change his image a 100%.

-'He wouldn't tell, but I think he went through some kind of makeover, if he hasn't he should.'- He replied deep in thought.

-'Why is that?'- She couldn't help but ask, Jesse seemed such a good guy and she just didn't see why he would need to change.

-'He just seems a little off more often than not, and a bit depressed. He kind of lost weight too and I don't think that's healthy. After all, we are firefighters so we need to be at our bests all the time.'-He answered in a very serious tone.

-'mhhm…'-thinking she should probably change the subject she said-'So, where are we going?'-

-'You'll see, just be patient.'- He answered grinning. After all this time together, if there was something Finn was sure about, it was that Rachel was the most beautiful woman on earth and most likely the least patient too.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Twenty minutes later they arrived to a little, cozy restaurant called: 'Blossom'.

-'Oh my God! This place is beautiful, how did you find it?'- Rachel asked completely in owe. It had such a romantic atmosphere; the whole place was lit up with candles and on top of it all, there was a piano being played at the back.

-'I'd like to say I found it myself after doing something sweet or heroic to look good but, truth be told, I googled vegan restaurants and was completely captivated by this one's photo gallery.'-He answered sheepishly.

-'Well, I appreciate your honesty.'-She told him taking his hand over the table.-'Plus, I already think you are sweet and a hero so why bother lying? '

-'I love you, you know that, right?'- He told her seriously while playing with her fingers some minutes later.-'You are the best, Rachel Berry, and I am absolutely smitten by you.'-

-'Well, it's good to hear that cause I love you too.'-She gave him a tender kiss.-'And it scares me a little, I've never been so utterly in live with someone and I'm afraid of ruing it all the time.'- She added looking down at the table.

-'Hey, look at me.'-He titled her chin up.-'I want you to remember this every time you feel insecure of our relationship; I am not going anywhere whilst you are happy with me by your side, and there is no freaking way you could damage this; _us_. Understand?'-When she didn't respond, he continued.-'Rachel, you are beautiful, inside and out, and I could never get tired of you. Every single second we are not physically together, my mind is thinking about you. My heart beats for you, Rach, and I swear to God, there is nothing you can do to jeopardize what we have.'-

After a heartbeat, she nodded and kissed him with a whole lot more of passion than the last time.

-'Though I am really enjoying what we are doing, we should get back to eating if we don't want to be escorted out of the restaurant. Let's save _that_ for after dinner.'-He told her smirking and she giggled.

-'You are right. I love you.'-She replied still smiling. But when Finn didn't say it back she got a bit worried.-'Finn?'-

-'I'm kidding! I love you too, more than anything.'-He said after a moment grinning from ear to ear.

-'Oh, you jackass!'- She told him punching him in the forearm playfully.

-'Hey, it's not the first time you call me that!'-He said laughing.

-'And it won't be the last if you keep messing with me.'-She scold between giggles.

-'Yes, mom.'

-'FINN!'-

-'I'm joking! I swear!'- They were both laughing hard now, and drawing some attention towards themselves. -'I love you, I do.'-

-'Good. Now let's eat so we can go to your place and finish what we started.'- She said suggestively.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They were already asleep when his alarm clock beeped announcing it was midnight but Finn was conscious enough as to shift his body and place a kiss on Rachel's forehead.-'Happy 6-month anniversary, baby. You really are the best, thank you for this awesome time.'- He whispered.

She shifted sleepily and kissed his neck tenderly.-'Happy anniversary for you too. I love you.'-

He smiled, he would never get tired of _this_.

He couldn't help but think that things were just too good to be true. Rachel was truly perfect; she sang like an angel, backed the most delicious things he had ever tasted and she was the cutest, sweetest and most intelligent girl ever. Plus, she was hot as hell too. Only God knows why she had set eyes on him but she had, and he was not about to screw it up.

In his mind it was clear, Rachel Berry would one day be Rachel Hudson-Berry.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'Good morning sunshine.'- He awoke to Rachel's melodic voice.

-'Hi, beautiful.'-He said in a husky voice before clearing his throat.-'What are you up to so early?'-

-'Well, I was going to bring you breakfast to bed but you've got absolutely nothing in the kitchen for me to work with.'-She told him laughing lightly.-'So I thought we could go grab something out. What do you think?'-

-'I would like that very much.'-

-'Ok then, let's go.'-She said getting up.-'Oh, I almost forgot, your phone has been ringing nonstop since it first went off at 9 am. I didn't want it to wake you up so I took it with me to the kitchen and left it there.'

-'Did you see who was calling?'-

-'I don't like spying on other people's phones, Finn.'-She said in a matter-of-fact voice.-'Get ready to leave, I'll bring it back to you.'-And with a kiss she was gone.

Once showered and dressed, Finn checked his phone and found 4 missed calls from Jesse and a text.

*Man, I ended up bringing Sophie with me to the station. Call me, I'm kind of worried. Where the fuck are you?*

-'Hey Rach?'-He called confused.

-'Yeah, honey.'-she said returning to the room.-'Are you ready?'-But when he saw the puzzled look on his face she added -'What is it?'

-'There's been a change of plans, we are going to the station.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'Oh! I am _so_ sorry Jesse!'-Rachel apologized for the 40th time-'Brody was supposed to be home by 10 so you could go. Something must have happened to him!'-She panicked.

-' I just got off the phone with him, he's fine, he just got caught up on his date and missed your voice mail saying we wouldn't be returning to your house.'-Finn said calming her down.

-'Hey, there's nothing to apologize for; this things happen. I was just worried _you_ guys had suffered some kind of accident or something. Plus, even though Sophie is an angel, I thought she would get bored here and misbehave, but as you can see, she had a blast.'

-'I love your doggies.'-the little girl commented petting one of the station's puppies.

-'I can see that. Isn't he cute?'-Rachel said kneeling to give the puppy some love too.

-'Yes…'-Sophie answered.

-'But…?'-Jesse interjected and shared a knowing look with the youngest member of the group.

-'Not as cute as uncle Jesse.'-she said between giggles.

-'That's right girl!'-He said and they fist pumped.

-'You guys have created quite a friendship, haven't you?'-Rachel asked smiling.

-'Well, I am very easy to bond with and she is the coolest princess I've ever met, so…'-Jesse replied now high fiving Sophie.

-'Very well then, what do you say we all go for breakfast now?'- Finn asked.

-'I'm sorry but I have to pass this one out, I need to exercise at least an hour before the alarm goes off.'-He answered honestly.

-'Ok then, I'll see you tomorrow man.'-Finn told.-'Thanks again for everything, you are a life-saver.'

-'No worries. Have fun.'

-'Wait.'-Sophie stopped them.-'Uncle Jesse, would you like to come to my first music concert? It's on the 6th and Finn will be there, so you can talk to him if you get too bored.'-She asked shyly.

-'I'm sorry princess, but I'll be working that day.'-Seeing her saddened expression he added-'Hey, I am sure it will be the best thing ever, and I won't miss the next one, I promise.'

-'Pinky swear?'-

-'You got it girl!'- He told her cheering her up.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'We are going to be late!'-Rachel screamed _again_.

-'For God's sake diva shut up! The show is still hourssss away!'- Santana shouted back.

-'Finn, where is your brother? How come he is late today; isn't he always on time?-Marley questioned politely.

-'I don't know, he should be here by now. Neither Blaine nor him are answering their phones.'

Right on cue the happy couple burst through the front door.

-'RACHEL! BRODY! MARLEY!'-Kurt started screaming his lungs out and freaked everyone out.

-'What is it?'-Brody was the first one to stand up and run to where the fashion designer was standing. He was soon joined by Marley and Rachel and the rest of the group, that being Santana and Finn, since they were equally curious.

-'You won't believe what I was just told!'-Finn's brother stated with wide eyes.

-'What was it?-Marley and Rachel asked in unison.

-'I've got news! I've got huge, life-changing news!'-He repeated over and over.

-'JUST SAY IT!'- _everyone_ yelled.

-'They want to make a movie.'-He said as if everything made sense when actually no one had the slightest idea of what he was talking about.-'THEY WANT TO MAKE A MOVIE.'-He repeated even more excited.

-'What about?'- Marley asked as confused as everyone else.

-'They want to film a remake of Wicked. A musical! And they want you all to participate on it!'-Blaine explained pointing to Brody, Marley and Rachel.

-'What!?'- The three asked in disbelief.

-'Exactly what you just heard.'-Kurt continued.-'I just got off from an extremely long phone call with one of the producers. They want the very same cast that is currently running it on Broadway to star the new film.'

-'OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!'- Both Marley and Rachel started squalling and jumping up and down whilst Brody just stood there, completely shocked.

-'Oh my God, I have to call Cassie and tell her!'-He said before taking off as quickly as he could.

After a good hour of celebrating, Rachel, Brody and Marley had also received their own calls from the producers to let them know about the project and ask if they would be in, which of course they all said yes.

-'Ok, I am sorry to be the buzz killer.'-Santana said standing in the little coffee table so everyone would pay attention to her.-'I am beyond happy for those of you who are involved in the play-soon to be movie, but we have to go if we plan on making it to the concert so come on, move!'-


	6. Set fire to the rain

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**

**Chapter 6**

**Set fire to the rain.**

_Fire, fire, fire_. That's all he can see, nothing else, only flames.

An hour earlier:

Sophie was, once again, making all of them stand up to re-arrange their seating order.

-'Ok, daddy you go here.'-She told Brody placing her tiny hand on the very first seat, front row of course.-'And next to you goes Mom-Rachel.-'She corrected herself quickly.

Everyone was a little taken aback for her tongue slip, though no one really doubted Rachel was and would always be Sophie's female role model and the closest thing to a mother she will remember (since Santana had a very different relationship with the little girl; they were more than 'cool aunt and niece', they were like sisters, the Latina being the older, overprotective one and Sophie the younger, heartwarming one.)

Awkward silence… No one dared to move or talk.

Rachel looked at Brody with teary eyes and took Sophie's hand, leading her to a secluded area, namely the bathroom, where they could talk privately.

-'I am sorry, I didn't mean to offend you! It was a mistake, please don't be mad.'-The little girl pleaded.

-'Sophie, it's okay.'-Rachel said calmly.-'I am not mad, not at all, I am honored actually.'-She fought to keep unleashed tears at bay, both of them actually. Sophie gave in seconds later and Rachel followed right after.-'Baby girl, I would love for you to call me your mom if it feels right right here.'-She added placing her hand over the youngster's heart.

-'It really does.'-She answered between sobs.-'Would it really be ok for you?'

-'I love you Sophie.'-Rachel was crying hard now.-'And there is nothing in this world I want more than to be able to call you my daughter.'

-'Not even 10 Tonys?'-Sophie asked kind of chuckling although her face was still covered in tears.

-'Not even a thousand of them for that matter.'-Rachel replied without missing a beat smiling at her `daughter`.

-'I love you, mom.'-Sophie said hugging her tightly.

-'I love you too, baby.'-She told her returning the favor just as eagerly.

They took a moment to calm down and washed their faces but when Rachel tried opening the door, she failed miserably.

-'What's happening?'-She said under her breath confused.

-'What is it?'-The little one questioned curiously.

-'I can't open the door.'-Rachel said pushing even harder.

-'Mom?'-Sophie said in a tremble voice taking a couple steps back.

-'What is it, honey?'-She asked without taking her eyes off the doorknob.

-'Mom, there's smoke coming from under the door.'-

It was true, the room was slowly getting filled with dark smoke and there was nothing they could possibly do to stop it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Finn was still surprised. As everyone else, he knew Rachel and Sophie where, even if they didn't call each other that way, mother and daughter, nonetheless, for some reason he was flabbergasted.

Suddenly, he heard the explosion.

Then, cries coming from little kids and adults too. Absolutely everyone running from side to side desperately searching for an emergency exit.

You could easily describe the place with two words: _complete chaos_.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

She knew what was going on. She could hear the shouting and screaming, though no one seemed to hear hers.

-'Somebody please, we are locked!'- Rachel yelled but no one seemed to care, no one but one very tall firefighter who unfortunately was too far away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As he recovered from the shock he took in the scene displayed in front of his eyes. He had witnessed enough fires to know what he had to do.

First things first: the kids.

Finn then saw Brody and the rest of the gang, (sans Rachel obviously), looking around and doing absolutely nothing so he went on full firefighter mode and started ordering them.

-'Brody, Blaine'-He shouted on full commander mode which made them snap out of their trance.-'Kids are the priority'-He spoke loud and clear, and when they nodded he continued,-'I want you to search for more children though out all the building and bring them here! Got it?'-

-'Yes!'-The answered determinately.

-'Good. Santana, join them!'-The fire was spraying as if every bit of furniture had been soaked with gunpowder before the show, everything was starting to get red and hot.-'Don't ever leave each other's sides! Now go!'-He shouted sternly.

As the three of them took off, he turned to Kurt and Marley.

-'Ok, I want you both to gather everyone in this room and make them stand on the far west side.'-He pointed to the left side of the area.-'Whilst doing that, you have to call 911 and tell them what's happening. NOW! '-Before they got to the task at hand he added.-'And don't even think about opening any windows, that will only make the fire spread even more.'-

And just like that they were both gone too.

Now it was his turn to make a move. He knew what he had to do, his job was to find a way out of there, even if it meant running through the flames. And so he did.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

'Mom, I don't feel well.'-Sophie said weakly. She was going to faint in any second.

Rachel had to think fast, Finn had explained exactly what to do in case of an emergency like this but she was having trouble remembering it due to all the smoke. Truth was, the lack of air was affecting her just as much as it was affecting Sophie, she just tried to hide it so that her daughter didn't panic.

-'It's okay, baby, just keep your cheek attached to the floor and don't stop breathing through the sweater. '- She told her as calmed as she could. She recalled Finn teaching her that in this kind of situations she had to kneel and crawl since gas tends to go upwards. He had also mentioned to place a pace of cloth in front of her face so as to keep the smoke out of her lungs.

Rachel just prayed someone would rescue them, at least Sophie.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Finn had found the fire escape fast enough.

He had also found an unconscious kid lying lifelessly on the floor and he was furious over the fact that none of the several adults that had passed him by had bothered picking up that helpless child. There was no time for that though, he had to get back to the where Kurt and the others were so he picked the child and thanked god when he noticed he was still breathing.

He made his way back to the main room where everyone was waiting for him and instructed them what they were going to do. Well, _almost_ everyone.

-'Everyone, listen to me!'-He shouted.-'Follow me, I found an exit. Don't run! Don't push! And don't panic!'-

Most of the people there were just terrified kids and that just broke his heart. He immediately thought of Sophie, which made him think of Rachel and he just wished they had noticed the fire and got out of the building before head. _If only he knew the truth._

-'Kurt, Blaine, Santana and Brody, I want you to be the last ones on the row so that you make sure absolutely no one is left behind.'-They nodded and went straight away.-'Marley, you come with me upfront, I will need help conducting such a big crowd.'-She nodded too.-'OK, LET'S GO!'-He yelled.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Outside the building the first fire truck was just arriving.

-'FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!'-Jesse knew the place. He had come once with Finn to pick Sophie from her music lessons and he knew the concert was going to be held there.

He _had_ to find Finn. He _had_ to make sure him and Sophie were ok. That was the ultimate goal, nothing else mattered, not even his special health condition.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The firefighters had entered the building and helped Finn's 'team' get the rest of the attendants to safety.

-'Hey you!'-He called a paramedic.-'I don't know his name, I don't know where his parents are and I don't know how old he is but I do know I want to see him awake by the end of the night so take care of him! NOW!'-He instructed quickly, handing him the poor boy.

-'Will do'- The paramedic replied taking good care of the boy.

Finn could still feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins.-'Jesse, Jesse!'- He called.-'Has anyone else left the building?'-

-'Yes a bunch of people, they are being attended by paramedics'-He answered without missing a beat.

-'Are Rachel and Sophie among them? I can't find them!'- Finn said panicking.

-'I don't think so.'-Jesse said panicking too.

It only took them a look in each other's eyes to know exactly what the other one was thinking, good thing was they were planning on doing just the same. Not even a second later they took off full speed towards the entrance of the still burning building, completely oblivious to the raged screams from their superiors and the fact that Finn was wearing a suit and no proper equipment.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Even though his real teammates from the station had tried putting the flames down since the minute they got there, the fire just seemed even more out of control.

_Fire, fire, fire_. That's all he can see, nothing else, only flames.

-'RACHEL!'-He yelled, Finn could just _feel_ that she was still there.-'SOPHIE!'

-'SOPHIE, WHERE ARE YOU!? SCREAM! DO SOMETHING! SOPHIE!'-Jesse shouted-'RACHEL!'

-'RACHEL!'- Finn tried again with all his might.

-'SOPHIE!'-Jesse screamed.

But no one answered, the only thing they could hear was the sound of wood mercilessly burning and columns falling, until…

-'Jesse! Finn!'- They heard it and rushed right away. It was, undoubtedly, Sophie's sweet voice though it was noticeably weakened by the fumes she must have inhaled.

-'Sophie!'-Finn called immediately.-'Keep screaming or making noise, where are you baby girl?'-

-'I am in the bathroom. We are trapped!'-the little girl said crying her eyes out.

-'The lock must have melted making it impossible to open.'-Finn commented.

-'It's ok Sophie, we are here.'-Jesse told her through the door.-'Princess, is Rachel with you?'-

Finn's world stopped for that split second which seemed to go on and on and never end, if Rachel wasn't there, then there was no freaking way he would find her on time.

-'Yes.'-She replied and Finn visibly relaxed.-'But she doesn't wake up! I am scared!'

-'Don't worry, we will get you out of there right now.'-Finn told her.

-'Sophie, I want you to move as far away from the door as you possibly can, okay?'-Jesse said calmly.

Finn could see him breathing hard but didn't pay that much attention to it, after all they were in a place which was obviously lacking of air.

-'Okay'-The little girl answered.

-'Tell us when you have done it.'-

-'Done!'- She said.

-'Ok, don't be scared Sophie.'-Finn did his best to try keep her calmed.-'We are going to break the door and get you out of there. Both of you.'-

Both Finn and Jesse took a couple steps back from the door and a second later knocked it together successfully breaking in into the small bathroom.

-'SOPHIE!'-Jesse scooped the princess in his arms.-'Finn, I got her, get Rachel.'-

-'Rach! RACHEL!'-Finn tried waking her up but failed.-'Jesse, get out of here, I'll be there with Rachel in a minute.'

-'Finn, the place could fall down in any moment!'-

-JESSE GET OUT AND GET SOPHIE SOME MEDICAL ATTENTION! NOW!'- He screamed.

Without a word his friend left saving one of the most important girls in his world.

-'Come on baby, don't leave us. Please wake up, please.'- He pleaded checking her pulse. _Yes_! She still had one. -'Ok honey, here we go.'- He said to a still unconscious Rachel picking her up.-'We are getting out of here.'-

He carried her bridal style until he was met by a huge whole on the floor which made him stop on his tracks to place her over his shoulder in order to jump.

He knew he was not going to make it. It was humanly impossible to jump that much whilst carrying another body, even if that body was little Rachel.

Thank God, two pairs of hands came to his rescue.

Jesse and Brody had run back in to help him and he had never been so grateful of having friends like them in his life. He didn't care that much for his life but if he fell so did Rachel and that just couldn't happen, Rachel _had_ to wake up and live a perfect life.

She deserved so. To his mind, Rachel couldn't die in a place like that, it wasn't dramatic enough for her and she still had a lot to live for. She had to raise Sophie and win her beloved prices, get married, star in the movie she had just landed and so much more. So she _couldn't_ give all that up, she just couldn't.

Once outside, he dashed towards one of the ambulances to drop her off and simply collapsed to the floor a second later.

He couldn't bear the thought of losing Rachel, this couldn't be happening to him.

How come a beautiful thing as Sophie's first musical concert ended up in this depressing tragedy?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

He had to calm down.

He had to think positive; Rachel would wake up and everything would be normal again. They would be ok, all of them.

He tried standing up but his body just couldn't do it. Suddenly he started feeling dizzy, he couldn't see straight, everything just seemed to blur out. However, before he passed out he had a second of clarity. That second was enough to see his best friend faint too.


	7. Don't you remember

**Sorry it took me this long. I hate writing sad-depressing things... if it were up to me there would be no drama but that would make the fic quite boring, wouldnt it? Anyway, the title is from Adele's song. Enjoy **

**Broadway, meet NYFD**

**Chapter 7**

**Don't you remember? Part one. **

_-'How could you? How could you do this to me!? To SOPHIE!?'- Brody questioned her._

_-'What are you talking about!?'- Rachel asked completely clueless._

_-'Are you freaking kidding me!? Are you seriously gonna act as if nothing happened!? '- He shouted at her with a furious look on his eyes.-'Sophie has completely blocked out the night. She doesn't remember anything and she has completely erased you from her memory! She won't recognize you, Rachel! EVER AGAIN!'-He added even louder.-'And it's all your freaking fault, you fucking bitch!'_

_-'Brody I don't know what you are talking about! What happened!?'- She said sobbing uncontrollably and scared out of her mind.-'Please don't shout at me.'_

_-'Are you stupid or something?'-He yelled.-'Don't you remember anything!? Don't you remember screaming at my poor daughter just because she accidentally called you mom!? Don't you remember dragging her away from the rest of us and locking her in the freaking bathroom as punishment!? And worst of all, don't you remember noticing the fucking fire and running for YOUR life leaving her on her own with no escape!?'_

_-'WHAT!?'-That's all she was able to mutter._

_-'Don't play dumb, Rachel! You are a freaking bitch! I don't ever want to see you again! And neither does Sophie!'- Then he just tuned his back to her and walked away.-'I hope you burn in hell, Rachel Barbra Berry. You fucking deserve so. '_

_-'NO! Brody! Don't leave me!'-She pleaded with all her might but no one was there to listen.-'BRODY! You got it all wrong! I would've never done that! I love you! I love BOTH of you!'-Still no response.-'BRODY!'-She called but no one answered. She was completely alone._

_Suddenly she heard someone approach her. _

_-'Santana?'-She asked looking up and seeing the latina standing in front of her.-'Oh, thank God. Sanny, you've got to help me-'-She stopped talking when, whilst standing and going to hug her best friend, she found herself falling back to the floor due to Santana's push.-'San!?'- She whispered confused as hell._

_-'Don't touch me, you whore.'-She said sternly._

_-'EXCUSE ME!?'-Rachel couldn't believe what was happening._

_-'I TOLD YOU NOT TO FRAKING TOUCH ME YOU DUMBASS! '_

_-'Why are you insulting me? What the hell is happening? Where the fuck are we?- She was completely overwhelmed by the situation._

_-'We are at your new home, you hoe.'-Her so called friend told answered._

_The Broadway diva looked around but didn't recognize the place at all and once again she was speechless. The room looked like dirty and isolated, like some kind of old, humid basement. It certainly wasn't her beautifully decorated house. _

_-'You idiot. After all I did for you, at least I deserve your house, don't you agree!?'-She heard Santana say.-'You know Rachel? If it weren't for me, you would've never made it to Broadway!'-She raised her voice more and more by the second.-'I HAD TO FUCKING SLEEP WITH EVERY DIRECTOR THAT EVER FUCKING HIRED YOU!'_

_Rachel was utterly shocked, she literally couldn't move so she just sat there staring._

_-'And not just me, oh no! BLAINE HAD TO DO THE SAME WITH ALL THE GAY ONES! You are a fucking lie, Rachel. No one really likes the way you sing, you are not a big star, you are a huge joke! In fact, the only thing that is big on you is your fucking ego!'_

_Rachel was crying her eyes out, this couldn't be true, could it? _

_-'Santana what's happening? I don't understand! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?'-_

_-'I am saying the truth.'-She replied looking her directly in the eye.-'We were all using you, idiot. I can't believe you never noticed!'-She said laughing.-'Did you actually think we really liked you as a friend!? Bitch please, NO ONE STANDS YOU! YOU ARE SO FUCKING ANNOYING!'_

_Rachel still hadn't recovered from the shock but now she could make out some figures behind Santana. They were people. They were her friends. And they were mercilessly laughing at her. _

_-'We all lied to you for different reasons.'- Marley commented while walking towards her.-'You have so little talent I actually feel sorry for you. But, I knew that if I became your friend you would never suspect about this.'-Turning her face to focus on her co-star she saw something she would've never imagined, Finn and Marley passionately making out in front of everyone. _

_If you thought she wouldn't be able to cry any harder than she already was, then you were SO wrong. _

_-'Finn!? What are you doing!?'-She questioned in disbelief.-'You said you loved me!'_

_-'Ever heard about acting, darling?'-He answered wickedly smirking at her.-'You should try it sometime.'_

_And everyone erupted into laughter once more._

_-'Blaine? Kurt? You too?'- She whispered, her voice barely audible._

_-'Sorry, honey, but I had a big crush on your friend Brody and needed a way of meeting him somehow outside the play.'-Kurt told her not even glimpsing at her direction, instead, he just stared in awe at the choreographer who was still turning away from her far away._

_-'And I just wanted to jump on your bones eventually.'-Blaine confessed approaching her slowly.-'Yeah, I'm not actually gay, just a good actor, unlike you.'_

_She wanted to die, right there, in that precise moment. This was just sick._

_-'Last but not least, I just needed money. You are really easy to steal from, Berry.'-The latina explained._

_Rachel just broke down.-'__**NOOOO**__!'-She started screaming her lungs out whilst tears kept on falling form her eyes._

-'**RACHEL**!'- She was awoken by a surprised voice calling her name. She could feel her face soaked from the mixture of tears and, disgustingly enough, sweat.

All of a sudden everything became white. Blindingly bright white.

-'Rachel , it's okay, you are safe.'-Someone was trying to calm her but she was completely oblivious to this person's actions.-'Rach, hey, look at me, you are safe. I am here, we all are.'-

Brody. It was Brody once again. But this time it was sweet, kind, adorable Brody. Her best friend; Brody.

Things slowly started getting clear. She was in a medium sized bed, in a big white room. A hospital room, why was she there?

-'Oh God the fire!'- She freaked remembering the terrible accident and with that she also recalled her horrible nightmare.

-'Hey, everyone is fine. Everything is fine, stay calmed.'-He smoothed her hair as she hugged him tightly for dear life.

A little over an hour later, when she finally calmed down Brody explained what had went down that awful night. He told her about the explosion, how they had all been rescued but her and Sophie, how Finn had managed the situation as a true hero and that it had been him (Finn) and Jesse who had rescued her and his beloved daughter. And apparently, she had been unconscious for two days due to the fumes she had been exposed to but according to the doctor everything was okay in terms of her health, no severe or permanent damage.

-'Oh my God…'-She murmured taking in all the information.-'How's Sophie!?'-She suddenly panicked.

-'Don't worry she is perfectly fine. She's outside with everyone else.'-

-'Good.'- She smiled for the first time in what seemed years, centuries even.-'Could you make them all come in? I'd like to say hi to everyone and thank Finn and Jesse.'-

She expected Brody to answer right away that of course he would let them all in but he didn't. He just stayed silent and noticeably stiffened.

-'Brody, what's wrong?'-She dared to ask.

-'Rach, Finn and Jesse were unconscious too, and they still haven't waken up.'

x-x-x-x-x


	8. Don't you remember part 2

**A.N: heard you wanted drama... **

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**  
Chapter 7 part two  
Don't you remember.

His entire body ached SO freaking much. He felt as if his limbs were literally on fire. Needless to say, the pain was excruciating, and he couldn't scream or shout which made it even worse. It was as if his brain had no control over his mouth and vocal chords whatsoever.  
Looking around he was met by a really dark and silent atmosphere.  
Finn realized he had been running all this time when he tripped over and miserably fell to the floor. To his surprise, whilst lying on the ground he heard two people talking.  
He'd recognize the female voice anywhere; it was Rachel. He was 100% sure about it.  
Glimpsing at her, he noticed she was hugging Brody, something she did more often than not, but there was something different in the way they were looking at each other, touching each other... And then it happened; she stood on the tip of her toes and kissed Brody full on the mouth.  
He froze, he wanted them to acknowledge his presence but apparently his body was against that thought.  
-'I love you.'- She whispered sweetly while combing Brody's hair with her fingers, something FINN loved.-'I love YOU, and only you.'- the firefighter felt sick, this couldn't be happening, not again!  
-'NO! You are supposed to love ME!'- he wanted to yell but words failed him once more, leaving him just lying there on mute.  
-'I love you too, babe.'- Brody answered cupping her butt and drawing her even closer to his body-'always have, always will.'-Finn wanted to through up right there.  
Suddenly he was on his feet again.  
-'Rachel! Rachel, what's happening!? What are you doing!?'- he questioned her and deliberately ignored the furious looks Brody was sending him.  
-'mmm... Who are you!?'- she asked puzzled.  
-'Rach, it's me; Finn, your... Your boyfriend!'- he explained exasperated.  
-'What are you talking about!? This is the one and only man in my life.'- she told him (kind of proudly) pointing at Brody-'We've been together since the very first day we met and I have no idea who you are...Wait! Are you some kind of stalkish fan!?'-  
-'WHAT!?'- he was shocked, it was ONE thing that he, all of a sudden, had to accept that Rachel had broken up with him and jumped into a relationship with one of her "B-Boys",but her not remembering him!? That was just mean and harsh.-'NO! Rachel, are you messing with me?'- seeing she was being completely honest with him he continued talking. -'Rach, how can you not remember me!? How can you not remember the night we met at Kurt's party!? Our first kiss! Our first date! The first time we slept together! When we first said "I love you" to each other! Our six-month anniversary! how could you forget it all!? '- he asked in disbelief.  
-' I am sorry I have no idea what you are talking about'-She replied.  
-'Ok, I think that's enough, buddy.'- Brody stepped up between them, as if trying to protect Rachel which was completely absurd since there was no freaking way Finn would ever hurt her intentionally.-'I think it's time you go home.'- he said noticing Rachel was getting scared because of Finn.  
-'but... But I love you! And you said you loved me back!'- tears started soaking his face.-'Don't you remember me either?'- he questioned Brody.  
-'For the 20th time: NO! We haven't got the foggiest idea of who you might be, you freak!'- Brody answered and Finn swore he was about to punch him right in the face but something stopped him. That something had been Rachel's tiny, manicured hand.  
-'Don't.'- she told him-' you'll get into trouble and I need you with me. WE need you by OUR side.'- she then took his hand and delicately placed it over her belly which was way bigger than usual.  
-'WHAT?! WAIT! YOU ARE PREGNANT!?'- Finn asked stepping back in utter shock.  
-'stay away from my family.'- Brody threatened giving Finn the answer he most certainly didn't want to hear.  
-'but how!? ... IS IT MINE!?'- he had to make sure that she was not carrying HIS child.  
-'ok, now THAT was really crossing the line!'- the choreographer muttered through greeted teeth before launching himself at Finn.  
He wasn't going to fight back, he would never punch Brody, Rachel would hate him for doing so and they were actually friends too but suddenly he found himself on top of a terribly bruised and bloody faced Brody while Rachel pleaded him to stop.  
-'please don't hurt him anymore! Please! I'll do anything you ask me to!'- she said crying her eyes out.  
-'what? No, I am sorry. I am so sorry. I have no idea what took over me.'- he muttered standing up and backing off.  
As soon as he moved Rachel kneeled beside Brody and caressed him tenderly, whispering soothing words in his ear for which Finn couldn't help but feel jealous.  
He was slowly walking closer to them to see if he could help in any way but Rachel looked up at him with THIS look. One he had never seen in her (or anyone's for that matter) eyes, so piercing, full of anger and hate. Absolutely terrifying.  
-'stay away from him, from us. '- she told him sternly.  
-'I am so sorry, I swear, I don't know what took over me. Please forgive me.'  
-'Just go away!'-  
-'Rachel how come you don't know who I am! YOU FUCKING LOVED ME A DAY AGO!'- he was sobbing once again. What the hell had happened!? Where the fuck were they!?  
Rachel was the love of his life, the las six months had been the best of his life and now she was completely unattached to him! How the hell did this happen!? PLUS, she was preggo and probably married to mr. I-am-so-FUCKING-perfect Weston!  
-'please go away and never come back.'- she told him calmly-'you obviously need help. Go get some.'-  
And that was it. He broke down once more. His life was officially ruined.  
-'RACHEL!'- he cried one last time.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a huge white room, his mother weeping by his side. He was resting in a hospital bed, however he felt perfectly fine. Better than that even, he felt energetic.  
He turned to his mother to try comfort her but the look on her face was so unexpected... The only time someone had looked at him that way it had been Rachel...Rachel...? Then he remembered what he had witnessed before: Rachel and Brody... And a baby... Had it been a dream!? 'Please, please let it be a dream!'- he thought to himself.  
-'what happened?'- he asked.  
-'you don't remember?- he could hear the angst in his mother's voice.  
-'No...'-  
-'you were in Sophie's concert and there was an explosion. And then the fire...'- she trailed off with a somber look in her eyes.  
Slowly memories started displaying in his mind. Yes. He remembered the fire. Leading everyone out. Not finding Rachel.. YES! IT HAD ONLY BEEN A DREAM! A terrible nightmare actually but still... Wait... He called back finding Rachel in the bathroom but she was unconscious...  
-'now I remember.'-  
-'good.'- she told him coldly.  
He was so afraid. What if Rachel hadn't wake up? Had he been too late?  
-'how's Rachel?'- he dared to asked.  
-'how's Rachel? You are asking me "how'Rachel?"?'- she shouted.  
-'yes. Why wouldn't I!?'- he was so confused.  
-'BECAUSE YOUR BEST FRIEND IS DEAD AND YOUR BROTHER IS IN A FUCKING COMA!'- she screamed with all her might.  
-'WHAT!?'-  
-'Exactly what you heard, Finn. Jesse is dead and Kurt is barely alive.'- she said ashen faced. -' You were so worried for your fucking girlfriend that you risked the well being of those who were there for you and have loved for so much longer.'-  
-'Jesse is dead!?'-  
-'yes! And it's all your fault.'- she said sternly.  
-'Kurt is in a coma?'- he couldn't believe it.  
-'why did you do it? Why did you turn your back on everyone that cares for you for a girl you've known for only six months!?'-  
-'I don't know!'- he confessed sobbing inconsolably-'I DON'T KNOW!'

Everything became dark again and then white once more. Only this time, when he openned his eyes his body hurt and he was being checked by an unknown woman in a white overall.  
-'good, you are up.'-she said sweetly.  
-'where am I?'- his voice was hoarse. He could barely breath properly, let alone talk.  
-'you are in the hospital. You were in an accident and needed to be treated. I'm your doctor.'-  
He remembered. He remembered it all but he needed to know; had it all been his subconscious playing him or plane, simple but extremely harsh reality?  
-'was a woman here a while ago?'- he managed to ask.  
-'no, your only visitor has been your brother who is currently patiently waiting out side. Do you want me to call him in?'  
Relief ran though his body visibly making him relax. 'OH! THANK YOU LORD!'- he thought to himself.  
-'yes, please.'- he answered the doctor who disappeared for a second and came back inside with Kurt on her hills, following closely behind.  
-'oh, Finn!'- he started crying once he saw him and hugged him tightly.  
-'it's good to see you, bro.'- he said wincing a little.  
-'oh, I am so sorry.'- Kurt apologized realizing he was hurting him and loosened his arms around him.  
-'don't.'- Finn told him hugging him even tighter.  
-'are you ok?'- Kurt asked softly after a moment or two.  
-'no...'-tears started falling from his eyes. -'I am so sorry Kurt.'- he said not letting him go.  
-'what for?'-  
-'turning my back on you because of Rachel.'- he explained ashamed of himself.  
-'you haven't done such thing! Why would you say that?'-  
-' I... I... I'm just sorry.'-  
-'don't apologize for being in love, Finn.'-  
X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

He could hear someone sobbing beside him but he was too weak to open his eyes.  
-'I am SO sorry. It was all my fault.'- the voice repeated over and over until someone else came into the room.  
-'Don't say that! It was an accident and you have nothing to do with it.'- a masculine voice stated.-'please don't think like that. I swear, it wasn't your fault in any way.'- the man added in a much more gentle tone.-'I love you SO much. I can't believe I almost lost you that night.'-  
-'I love you too, daddy. '- the sweet, melodic voice answered. It sounded like a child but who was it?  
-'Where am I!?'- Jesse thought to himself.-'what the hell is happening to me!? Why can't I move!?'- so many questions but no answers.  
He used all his energy to open his eyes, although at the beginning he could only make out figures he realized they were a young girl and a man, people he recognized but couldn't remember their names.  
-'hello?'- he whispered drawing the attention to himself.  
-'Jesse!'- the girl lunched herself towards him with tears in her eyes but the man caught her just before she crashed the weakened firefighter.  
-'if you crash his body like that you are going to hurt him even more, honey. '- he explained -'you've got to be careful. '-  
-'sorry'- she replied.  
-'how do you feel?'- the man asked Jesse.  
-'weak'- he answered honestly.  
-'I suppose that's normal.'- he told him paging the doctor.-'do you remember the accident?'-  
-'which accident?'- he was so confused and both the man and the little girl looked at him puzzled until pity took over their expressions.  
Why were they looking at him that way?  
-'Jesse, do you know where you are?'- the child asked but he didn't know what to answer so he just stayed silent.  
The doctor hadn't arrived to the room yet and both Brody and Sophie were getting anxious. -'You do remember me, don't you ?'- she questioned, tears once again falling from her eyes.  
-'I am sorry.'- he managed to mutter. -'I ... I-'- he didn't get to finish since the girl broke down and ran away crying hard. The man who was still beside him stared at him in shock until the doctor entered the room.  
-'I have to make sure she's ok. '- he excused himself before getting out of there too.  
-'so, James, my name is Emma and I'm your doctor for now. You are at the hospital. Do you remember how you got here? Why you were brought in?'- she seemed kind and amicable but Jesse was utterly scared. Why didn't he know any of the answers?

X-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'I can't believe this happened to us.'- Santana said sitting in the hospitals waiting room beside Brittany.  
-'don't worry, San, everything is going to be all right.'- she tried comforting her girlfriend.-'Rachel and Finn are already up and it's only a matter of time before they tell us that Jesse is okay too. You'll see...'-she was actually really scared too but did her best to remain calmed for Santana's sake. Little did people know that she and Jesse had hooked up before she started going out with the Latina, so of course she really cared about him. -'let HIM be ok, please, let them ALL be okay.'- she prayed silently.  
-'where's Brody?'- Marley asked while sipping the worst cup of coffee she had ever tasted. That probably made sense since that was one of the worst experiences she had gone though in her life. Not knowing if her friends would be okay simply sucked.  
-'he and Sophie went in to check on Jesse a while ago. They are probably still there.'- Blaine replied somberly, sitting on her right, next to Kurt  
Suddenly they see Sophie running away and seconds later her father following her.  
-'what was that about?'- Kurt asked holding Blaine's hand firmly.  
-'I have no idea.'- Santana answered blankly.  
-'you don't think that...'- Marley trailed off not daring to say it out loud.-'I can only imagine one thing that would make Sophie run away like that right after visiting Jesse's room...'-  
Blaine and Santana felt how their partners visibly stiffened; Kurt became rock-still and Brittany just seemed to have stopped breathing altogether.  
-'No...'- Kurt whispered.  
They all stood up when a ginger hair doctor came out of their friend's room.  
-'oh god... Please ,no...'- Kurt's mind worked a mile per microsecond. If Jesse died... He just didn't know how he would handle it. That boy had been one of his very best friends since high school and he would be forever grateful for all the times he protected him. -'please, PLEASE tell us he's alright.'- he said, his voice so soft it was barely audible.  
-'you are all here for Jesse St. James, am I right?'- the doctor asked.  
They all nodded, scared out of their minds as to what she would tell them about their friend.  
-'AND Finn Hudson AND Rachel Berry.'- Marley added.  
-'okay then. Well... I have good and bad news for you.'- they all looked at each other expecting the worst.-'the good news is that the three of them are up.'- she told them cheerfully and ALL of them felt SO ... so good, relief cant even begin to describe the feeling they shared.-' the bad news is that Finn's body is severely damaged therefore he will stay here for quite some time. AND, Jesse has kind of blocked the night in his head.'- since they all stared at her looking at complete loss she explained a little bit further.-'which basically means that he doesn't remember what happened and even worst, he won't be able to recall some of you guys for a while.'-  
-'okay...'- Blaine said as they all took in the information they had been just given.-' what about Rachel?'-  
-'she will be just fine. She is most likely to be released in four or five days.'- and with that she excused herself and went away.

-'I don't know how to feel.'-Kurt confessed once they were left by themselves.-'I know I should be happy but... but why did this happen to us in the first place? Why? What did we do to deserve this?'-  
Blaine tried to hold him but Kurt shrugged him off.  
-'accidents happen, Kurt...'- he muttered but he had been asking himself the very same question.  
-'my brother has never hit anyone, he has never driven under the influence or stollen anything! And Jesse is a good guy too! He stood up for us when no one else did and has been watching our backs since day one! They never did drugs or bullied anyone unlike everyone else in my fucking high school. Why do they have to suffer all this!? WHY!?'- he screamed, crying hard.  
Kurt was now kneeling on the floor whilst the rest of the group let silent tears run down their faces.  
-'Kurt...'- Blaine tried again but before he could even take a step towards him, his boyfriend stood up and walked away.  
-'leave me alone please. I... I just want a moment for myself.'-

-'he has a point.'- Brittany commented once they were all seated again some minutes later. Brody and Sophie had joined them and were now anxiously waiting for any updates on their friends' health.  
-'I know, but we can't change the past. We just have to wait and see what we can do to help the boys and Rachel.'- Blaine quickly answered.  
-'I have some questions for dr. Pilsbury...'- Marley said.  
-'Me too. '- Santana told them.  
-' I'll call her.'- Brody offered getting up.

-'we have some doubts...'- Blaine explained.  
-'okay, let's see if I can clear any of them.'- Emma replied.  
-'when will we be able to see them?'- Marley asked.  
-'you are free to go visit Rachel. One at a time though and don't take too long.'-  
-'what about Jesse and Finn?'- Blaine questioned.  
-'You should be able to see Jesse too. But, as I said before, he may not recognize you so be careful not to overwhelm him.'-she answered.-'As for Finn, his situation is way more delicate so I suggest you wait at least until tomorrow.'-  
-'okay.'- Santana said. -'but I don't understand something... Why did they collapse like that? I mean, the fainted the second they got out of the building.'-  
-'well, Rachel had been knocked out for a while when Finn found her due to the fumes she had been exposed to.'-  
-'I figured that much but what about the boys?'- Santana pressed on.  
-' I'm getting there...'- the doctor told her.-'I suspect that once Finn delivered Rachel to the paramedics and was sure everyone he cared for, namely all of you, were safe too, he must have felt that his job was done so he just let go and fainted in the aftermath of the adrenaline rush he had undergone.'- she explained. -'let's not forget that Finn went back into the burning place without any kind of protection and that's why his body is so fragile right now. So right now the weakest would be Finn but in the long term of course that would be Jesse. '-  
-'why Jesse?'- Brody asked.  
-'well. He had his suit on when he arrived but I can only imagine that between the smoke he must have inhaled, the adrenaline and the cancer his body just couldn't handle it any more.'- when she looked up she was met by six pairs of astonished, wide eyes staring at her.  
-'I'm sorry, what?'- Marley asked as shocked as everyone else.  
-'what?'- Emma asked confused as to why they were looking at her like that.-' I said that even though he was wearing his suit, some smoke must've got in, and that combined with the adrenaline in his blood and the fact that he is terribly weakened by the cancer...'- she trailed off seeing they were still staring at her as statues.-'Am I missing something?'- she asked worried of their reaction.  
-'Excuse me, you said... You said...'-Blaine started the sentence but words failed him.  
-'you said Cancer?'- Brody finished it for him.  
-'oh dear! Weren't you aware of Mr St James condition?'- she asked surprised. They all shock their heads.-'well, I am terribly sorry for having delivered such horrible news just like that. I thought you were all aware of it.'-  
-'Has he been getting any treatment?'- Brittany questioned.  
-'yes, of course. He was given the diagnosis a couple months ago and he's been going through dialysis since then.'-  
-'I can't believe what I'm hearing.'- Blaine whispered.

Kurt had calmed down and was making his way back to his friends. His parents had called and he had to break the bad news for them which at the beginning only made him feel worst but by trying to comfort his stepmom he gained hope himself too. Of course, as expected they were taking the first flight from Ohio to New York right away so they would be there rather shortly which made it all better.

However, his spirits came crashing down once again when just a few feet away from his seat he heard something no one ever wants to hear.

-'I can't believe uncle Jesse is going to die. I can't.'- Sophie sobbed from her father's lap.  
-'Honey, we don't know that. He will be okay, we just have to help him. Of course dealing with cancer is no easy task but we'll do it.'- Her father tried to reassure her that everything was going to be okay but she knew better.  
-'Jesse ... what!?'-  
They all turned at the sound of Kurt's shocked voice. No one had ever seen him so pale.  
-'oh god I thing I'm gonna...'-he blacked out.


	9. Being weak

**an: i plan on finishing the story before school starts so it wont take that long for the next update.**

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**  
**Chapter 8**  
**Being weak.**

Carole had landed in New York at eight a.m sharp and half and hour later she was at the nurses desk demanding to see her son.  
Nervous and concerned as hell she made her way through the hallways following the nurse towards Finn's room.  
As soon as the door was opened she rushed inside, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of a man- a boy actually, helplessly and miserably lying in bed. That was her beloved son, the baby she swore she would guard and protect with her life. The only one who has been by her side for over twenty years. Her son. HER SON! How could she let this happen? Why hadn't she stopped him when he told her he wanted to join the New York Fire Department? Why had she supported the idea of becoming a firefighter? -because that's what he truly wanted to do with his life and you would never go against it.- her conscious jumped in. But-...But... She should've. If she had he would most likely not be here, more dead than alive. Not in this lifeless place looking so, so weak. She had never seen him that weak. Even when he was born he came out shouting and crying, strong and healthy and now he seems so delicate, as if made of glass.  
Fortunately, before she torment herself any more, Burt appeared at the door and placing a hand on the small of her back he guided her outside for some fresh air.  
Carole came back into the room every other hour taking some time off between visits for her own sake. Finn had been awake on round three and they were able to talk- there were way more tears than words on her side but still- until he drifted off once again.  
By day number three, she had been able not only to get the story of what had happened directly from Finn itself but also she'd visited Jesse. Watching Jesse so slim, almost all skin and bone also made an huge impact of her but she knew he would get better. She would get him to visit her for a whole month and would make sure he was properly fed and gain back all the weight he had lost. Kids.. They just don't seem to understand that eating is just as important ( in fact much more important) as playing video games!  
As light as Carole felt after seeing her son conscious again and visiting his BF, the sad smile Jesse gave her when she mentioned her plan to make him healthy again didn't pass unnoticed. Something was up with him. Something he was not telling her and she was absolutely clueless as to what it could be.  
Kurt was the one to enlighten her once again, and her heart broke. It just broke.

On day five Carole decided it was high time she met Rachel. She spoke to Kurt first asking for his opinion and then to Finn asking for permission. She really didn't want to intrude. Kurt gave her a thumbs-up but Finn was quite reluctant to accept.  
-'I don't know, mom.'- he hadn't been able to go see her for obvious reasons and for some strange reason that was beyond him she hadn't dropped by either.  
-'oh come on Finny, I won't scare her away! I promise! I'll behave myself!'-  
-'but- but, mom!'-  
-'please, Finny, I want to meet the girl you risked your life for!'-  
Finn was a little taken aback. Those words coming from his mother made him recall ( more than he wished to) the horrible nightmare he had had not so long ago.  
-'ok'- he gave up. There was no way he would win this.

Rachel was talking to Kurt about fashion- Kurt tried to make her think about other stuff to keep her mind away from worries about everyone else. And, truth be told, to keep his from doing the exact same thing too.-when they heard the soft knock on the door.  
-'come in.'- Rachel said expecting either Brody or a nurse to appear, that's why she was surprised when Finn's mother popped her head into her room. She had seen pictures and heard stories from her but never actually met her due to the simple fact that she lived in some suburb kind of far away. She certainly didn't expect to meet her like this.  
-'hi. Can I come in?'-  
-'yes, of course.'- Rachel replied.  
-'hi... Again. Ammm... I'm-'- the older woman started only to get cut off by the younger one.  
-'Carole. Yes, I've heard a lot about you. I'm Rachel. It's a pleasure to finally meet you'- she offered her hand which Finn's mother eagerly shock.  
-'likewise, and I've heard lots about you too.'-  
-'all good things I hope.'-  
-'more than good, honey. My son praises the ground you step on.'- Carole said giggling whilst Rachel blushed.  
-'are you two going to ignore me for much longer? May I remind you that I was having a blissful discussion about the pros and cons of mini skirts on stage plays just a second ago?'- Kurt commented.  
-'oh I'm sorry, Hun.'- Carole apologized. -'oh, i forgot to ask: how are you? After blacking out like that, you must've hit your head really hard.'-  
-'no, fortunately Blaine caught me in time. So I'm okay. '- he explained.  
-'black out? When did you black out?'- the broadway star asked.  
-'a couple days ago, after hearing about Jesse's diagnosis.'- Carole replied completely oblivious to the pointed looks her son was sending her.-' I have to admit I almost fainted too. I can't believe it.'- she added with a somber look in her eyes.  
-' what... What are you talking about? Which diagnosis?'- at Rachel's panicked questions Carole looked at Kurt alarmed. Had she spoken out of place? By the look of Kurt's face the answer was YES.  
-'nothing you have to worry about.'- her friend tried to calm her.  
-'Kurt, what's going on?'- but none of her companions answered.-'does this have something to do with the fact that I haven't been allowed to visit neither Finn nor Jesse yet?'- still silence. -'okay, I am getting out here to find out myself.'- she added struggling to get out of bed. Rachel might've been the one that got it lighter of the three of them but that didn't mean that she was completely okay. As a matter of fact she was still weak therefore simple things people usually take for granted such as walking or just standing took her great effort to achieve.  
-'hey, what are you doing?'- Kurt asked in disbelief.  
-'I told you. Since you are not going to tell me what's going on, I am going to find out myself. And I'm visiting Finn, I can't believe I haven't seen him for this long, what kind of girlfriend does that?'-  
-'Rachel stop.'-  
-'I have to find out Kurt. Either you tell me or I'll go. '-  
-'Rachel... I don't want you to worry, you are still weak, you don't need this on you. '-  
-'they are my friends too, Kurt. I deserve to know what's going on with my boyfriend and our friend who might I add helped him save my life! '-  
Once again he remained silent so with all the energy she had in she rose from bed and made her way to the door.  
-'Jesse has cancer.'- Kurt stated loud enough for her to hear.  
-'what?'- she whispered turning to her friend.  
-'Jesse is sick. And... And Finn is terribly weak too. He doesn't know either.'-

-'I am sorry, Kurt. I had no idea she didn't know.'- his mom apologized.  
- it's okay. She would find out sooner or later. It was only a matter of time.'- they were alone at the cafeteria just sitting there, taking a small break from al the chaos.  
-'where's dad?'  
-'he's with Finn, they are watching some match of god knows what...'-  
-'old habits die hard, eh?'- they laughed bitterly.

Time flew by and things were slowly but steadily going back to normal; Rachel had been released from the hospital, Finn's skin was healing and Jesse's memory was getting back to what it used to be. One thing hadn't changed though, and that was that Rachel was still yet to visit her boyfriend and his best friend.  
During her time at the hospital she hadn't been allowed to go out of her room and now that she was at home her friends didn't let her get out of their sight.  
-'Take me to the hospital.'- she demanded.  
-'Berry, you just got out of there, I am not taking you back in.'-Santana said.  
-'I want to see him. Both of them. Why won't you let me? Kurt and Carole visit them all the time.'- she whined.  
-'no, Berry. Just... No.'-  
-'but Sanny!'-  
-'you can throw one hell of a tantrum if you want but we are not moving from here. End of discussion. '-

Santana wasn't a bitch. She really wasn't, she was just doing what she thought was the best for her. The thing is, the day Rachel was released from the hospital, before picking her up from her room she made something she'd been planning on doing for some time, she visited Finn.

The room was quiet, deadly so, but she came in anyways. It didn't matter to her whether he was asleep or awake, she had something to say to him and she would say it either way.  
Silently, she walked to the side of the bed and took a seat on a chair placed nearby. Words didn't come easily to her, not in such an emotional time so she took a deep breath to sort her thoughts and started talking.  
-'Hudson, I just wanted to- I just-... thank you.'- as soon as she muttered his name tears started falling from her eyes. -'what's wrong with me?'- she whispered to herself before focusing once more on doing what she came to do. -'you are a true hero, Finn.'-She stated reaching for his hand.-'you have no idea how much gratitude I have towards you. Not only have you presented me with the love of my life but you've saved... You saved my best friend in the whole wide world and the girl I care about the most too...'-she trailed off.-' I don't know what to say other than thank you. Please get well soon so I can make you and Rachel uncomfortable with my jokes again. Please, just, get better.'-  
-'I'll do my best.'- she jumped at the sound of his husky voice. When had he woken up?-'hello, Santana.'-  
-'I thought... I thought you were asleep.'  
-'how could I miss such a beautiful speech like that?'- he said, his voice weak but clear and smirked.  
-'I can't believe you! I was pouring my heart out and you were fake sleeping!'- she told him laughing though there were still some tears in her face.-'you are an ass!'-  
-'okay, okay. I wasn't fake sleeping, I was listening with my eyes closed and without talking.'- he tried making his case but his smile gave him away.  
-'ass.'-  
-'hey, why don't we go back to where you were thanking me and adoring me like a god? I liked that! You should try it more often.'- he joked grinning.  
-'don't get your hopes up, boy, that was a once in a lifetime experience.'- she answered playfully.-'anyways, how are you? How are you feeling?'-  
-'not so good. Weak to say the least, but I'm getting there.'-  
-'Good. Have you... Have you heard from Jesse?'- she didn't wanna be the one to tell him.  
-'Yes. He.. He came in and told me everything.'-  
-'how are you dealing with it?'-  
-'it's not me who has cancer.'-  
-'you know what I mean.'-  
-'The day he told me I was furious, furious with him, with God, with the world.'- he explained quietly.-'I was angry with him for not telling me sooner but looking back now I should've noticed.'  
-'and now?'-  
-'now I know I won't let him die. He is my best friend and I won't let him slip away from us. I'll do whatever it takes.'-  
He was looking at her straight in the eyes and she could see something else was bothering him.  
-'you can't cure cancer, Finn.'-  
-'...I will give him one kidney'- he stated.  
-'wow... Well, good for him.'- she was shocked, talk about bromance. -'still, there's something bothering you and I want to know what it is.'-He didn't answer.-'look, Finn, I just cried in front you and I NEVER cry in front of anyone, so you might as well start talking now, I deserve so!'- still silence.  
-'a lot of things are going to change once I undergo surgery.'-  
-'for example?'-  
-'I will be weak and the NYFD can't afford to have weak firefighters so I'll be unemployed. I will have to find an other job but in the meantime I will be weak and poor and probably living with my parents-'- he was talking VERY fast, he seemed tense and stressed. She cut him short before he could finish.  
-'Finnegan, what's your point? What's wrong? Apart from the obvious...'-  
-'I am breaking up with Rachel.'- he spoke slowly this time. Loud and clear.  
-'WHAT?'-


	10. When your mind is made up

**Broadway, meet the NYFD  
Chapter 9  
When your mind's made up.**

**An: so, I just watched The Impossible and I cried as hard as I had never cried before, I swear at one point I thought I was gonna dehydrate, but I loved the movie so I highly recommend it. Anyway, talking about depressing movies, the title of this chapter comes from the song When your mind's made up from the Irish film: ONCE. Enjoy this new chapter full of drama, and please don't hate me ;) The chapter is actually a little long so bear with me ... See ya!**

-'I won't let you do it, Finn.'- his friend said sternly. They were at his room, still at the hospital.  
-'Jesse, let's not have this conversation again. I am doing it, end of discussion.'-  
-'You are throwing away your life! You can't do that!'-  
-'I am not throwing away my life! I am saving yours! So shut up and take my fucking kidney!'-  
-'you ARE ruining your life! Do you have any idea how much this will affect your lifestyle?'-  
-'Yes, I know I will have to adapt a bit but it will be okay.'-  
-'no, it won't! You won't be able to work as a firefighter anymore! You won't be able to go on those endless hikes you like so much! You won't be able to play football anymore!'- He tried to make him see his point but Finn didn't have any doubts.  
-'Are you listening to yourself? Those are all stupid shit I won't fucking care about if you are dead!'-  
-'think about Rachel, Finn.'-he pointed out calmly.-'think about the future kids you guys are going to have, if you undergo this surgery you won't be able to play ball with them when they grow. You won't be at your best for Rachel. You'll become more of a burden than a helper to them. Didn't you say she deserved the best of the best all the time?'- this made Finn quiet for a little but just when Jesse thought he had convinced him, he replied.  
-'I already thought about that.'-  
-'Good, I'll notify the doctor.'-  
-'let me finish.'- he commanded.-'I already thought about it and that's why I've decided to break up with her.'- okay, Jesse did not expect that answer.  
-'WHAT!?'- he really hadn't seen it coming.  
-'you are right. She deserves the best and it most certainly won't be me so I will set her free before all this shit goes down and she feels sorry for me and stays by my side just out of pity.'-  
-'No, no no no... NO! You can't break up with her! You are so happy! I've never seen you like this! You told me you wanted to marry her! Finn, don't do it! Don't ruin your happiness because of me!'-  
-'I am happy if she is happy. And I am happy if you are alive so ... '- Finn said with watery eyes and husky voice. Don't get him wrong, he really, REALLY didn't wanna do it but he had thought night and day about it and it only seemed fare for her to be with someone better, someone healthy and intelligent with whom she could share long chats about Broadway and all that stuff she likes so much.

-'You've got to be kidding me. You can't break up with her, not only will you be weak, you'll be miserable too! Are you some kind of masochist or something? Is that it?'- Jesse asked in disbelief.

-'I'm just doing what I think is the best for everyone.'- Finn explained after clearing his throat.

-'That is where the problem relies, Finn, don't you see it? You want everyone to be perfectly happy and that's really loyal and charming of you but you forget about your own happiness on the way!'-

-'Don't you think I want to be happy too!?'-Jesse's friend raised his voice.-'I WANT TO BE HAPPY, JESSE.'- he paused for a second trying to calm himself down.-'But I won't achieve it if you are dead or if Rachel forces herself to stay with me.'- He became silent again before adding:-'Why do you oppose so much to the idea of me being your donor anyways? Aren't you afraid of dying?'-

-'Of course I am, I just don't want you to make your life shorter because of me. People die every day, Finn, donors who agreed that once they have passed away their organs could be transplanted to other sick people like me. I just have to wait.'- Jesse replied in a low voice.

-'It could take months or even years for them to find you a match and you know it. On the meantime you expect me to just sit here doing absolutely nothing and watch you slowly fade away knowing I am a perfect match and could perfectly be your donor and save your fucking life. I CAN'T DO THAT, JESSE!'-

Jesse didn't answer.

-'How long have you been on the waiting list?'-

-'A little.'- He whispered.

-'How long, Jesse?'- Finn asked again a little louder and demanding.

-'Almost four months.'- He confessed.

-'For God's sake, FOUR MONTHS, we could've dealt with this four months ago…'- Finn became exasperated, he rubbed his face and focused once more.-'Okay, we are going through with this and you don't get a say on it, I've made up my mind so keep quiet. The sooner this is all done, the better. I am exhausted now, so if you don't mind I'm gonna rest.'

-'Okay, I'll check on you later.'- Jesse muttered, he knew that once Finn had his mind made up on something there was really no pint on trying to change it.

Finn didn't sleep, instead he spent the next three hours wondering how the hell was he gonna break up with one of the persons he loved the most. It was going to be one hell of a challenge, and he dreaded it, he really, REALLY wished he didn't have to do it but he did.

-'Marley, why are you here?'-  
-'Hello, Rachel, it's SO nice to see you too!'- her friend answered sarcastically.  
-'You know I love you but what are you doing here?'- Rachel demanded to know though she already figured why.  
-'I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by and check how you were.'-  
Marley was a superb actress but her friend knew better.  
-'Marley, you live on the other side of town, you have to take a bus and two trains to get here. You are here because Santana asked you to, aren't you?'- she took her silence as a yes.-'oh god, I can't believe her! It's been two weeks since I was released and she still won't let me go visit Finn and Jesse. What the hell is wrong with her? And why are you all helping her!?'- she didn't let her friend answer and just kept on speaking hysterically. -'you know, the other day she had some huge meeting for work therefore she had to leave for like three hours or so, but she didn't want me to be alone fearing I would run off to the hospital, which I would've totally done, so she sent Brody to babysit me and since he was in a middle of a date with Cassandra he brought her too and I became a third wheel in my own house! You know how sad that is!?'-

-'she's just looking out for you, Rachel.'-

-'from what exactly? The world?'- Rachel just wanted to get out of there for god's sake.-'Do you know something that I don't?'-She asked feeling suddenly suspicious.

-'N-No…'-

-'Marley, you can't lie to me. What is it? Does it have to do with Finn?'-

-'You should ask Santana.'-

-'TELL ME!'- Rachel demanded but her friend remained with her lips sealed.-'Okay, that's it, I'm getting out of here.'-

-'Rachel don't! If you go Santana is gonna kill me!'- her co-star pleaded and she was right.

-'Okay, but as soon as she walks through that door and you are 'off duty' I'm hitting the road.'- they agreed.

Four words darling: Easier said than done.

As she had claimed, the second Santana came into the apartment Rachel tried to get out but the Latina stopped her midway.

-'Where do you think you are going?'- she questioned looking down at her.

-'Out.'- The shortest girl simply answered defying her friend.

-'Okay, I'm gonna see myself out. Have a nice day.'-Marley tried to escape before anything went down but was stopped too.

-'Stay right where you are, missy.'- Santana said turning to face her.-'When were you going to tell us about the Puckerman brothers?'-

-'What? You know the Puckermans, Marley?'- Rachel asked. She and Noah Puckerman had hooked up a little over a year ago, it had been really fun and not serious at all. They remained friends after the "break-up" and saw each other every now and then (just as friends, nothing more).

-'Know them!?'-Santana stressed laughing.-'Our friend here does not only _know_ them, she has been _doing_ them! BOTH!'-

-'WHAT!?'- Rachel asked in disbelief.-'You've been doing Puck AND his brother!?'- Marley didn't really have to answer, the scarlet color of her face spoke for itself but she did anyways.

-'I've gone on a date or two with them, yes…'- She tried to defend herself.

-'Dates? Honey, not according to what I've heard…'-The Latina commented.

-'Okay, Okay! I- I… I've been seeing them both and I don't know which to choose, okay?'- she confessed.

-'Oh my God, Marley, I must say; I really, RALLY didn't expect this kind of thing from you! You look so sweet and innocent on the outside!'- Rachel jumped in.

-'I am! I am! I just… I don't know, I let loose. And I don't know what to do now.'-

-'Why didn't you tell us sooner?'- Rachel inquired.

-'You had, still have actually, so much going on, I don't know… Plus, I'm kind of ashamed; this makes me look like a slut!'-

-'Ashamed? Oh, hun, this just makes me like you even more!'- Santana smiled mischievously.

-'Marley, you have to choose one, you can't keep doing that, it's not fair to them.'- Rachel stated ignoring Santana's comment.

-'I know, but I can't make up my mind…'-

-'Do they know about each other?'- the Latina asked still grinning.

-'They are both aware that I'm seeing someone else but not exactly who.'-

-'Marley, you should really put an end to this.'-Rachel once again growled.

-'WHY!? She's just having fun! Let her live for God's sake. Plus, I highly doubt they are not doing the same thing to her! I'm sure they have other ladies coming their way too!'- Santana told her BFF.

-'Let her live!? You are seriously saying that to me!? You haven't _let me live _for two weeks, Santana!'- Rachel cried and expected her to shout back at her but she just remained silent.-'Let me make myself clear, I'm going to the hospital now to see MY boyfriend who probably hates me for taking so long and when I come back we are going to solve Marley's situation and everything will get back to normal again. Understood!?'- She started gathering her stuff once again.

-'He would never hate you.'- her roommate stated.

-'You don't know that! Even gentlemen as Finn ran out of patience and I am not about to risk this beautiful relationship for some dumb reason you guys won't tell me!'- She yelled.-'What if he thinks I'm not grateful that he saved my life? What if he thinks I'm some ungrateful bitch? He probably never wants to see me again! I can't lose him Santana! I can't!'- she added letting tears roll down her face.-'WHY WON'T YOU LET ME SEE HIM!?'-

-'We thought we were protecting you.'- Marley was the one to answer in a low voice.

-'FROM WHAT!?'-

-'From this.'- Santana whispered holding an envelope with her name.

-'What is that?'- She asked speaking softly though her emotions were still a chaos.

-'A letter.'-

-'I can see that but who is it from?'- She was slowly making her way to the letter.

-'It's from Finn.'-

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Rachel was still holding the letter tightly when Santana popped into her room two hours later. After being given the piece of paper she had gone straight to her bed and sat there just staring at it fearful of what it could say inside.

-'Have you read it?'- Her friend asked.

-'Not yet.'-

-'Do you want me to be here when you do so?-

-'No. I want to be alone.'- She replied, her eyes never leaving the envelope.

-'Okay, just open it and I'll go. You have to read it, I realize now that I was wrong. I should've taken you to see him right away. I am truly sorry, Rachel.'- And with that she was by herself once again.

After Santana's words, gathering all her courage she opened it and started carefully reading it.

_My__ Dear Rachel,_ - It read at the beginning but the first word had been crossed out.

_It's funny that I have never, not once in my life, written a letter but here I am know, completely clueless as to what to write or not.- _She chuckled a little bit, this was SO Finn, _her_ cute, clumsy firefighter.

_Okay, first things first: I love you. You know it, I know it, the whole world knows it and it makes me so damn happy. However, it also means I get my heart broken when this stage of the relationship comes. To make my point I'm going to tell you a little story, I have never told you this because it makes me feel so SO stupid but here it goes._

_As you already know, Kurt, Jesse and I all went to the same high school, the same one where my little bro was tormented every single day._

_At the beginning I was not aware of the bullying at all, my mother was still single and the closest thing I had to a brother was my best friend Azimio but one day in my sophromore year it all changed. You see, I was the typical jock; quarterback and captain of the football team, cool, and of course, in love with the head cheerleader .Her name was Quinn and she was angel, kind, beautiful… okay, I'll spare you the details, I'll just say that she was really intelligent (way more than me that's for sure) and believed that everyone deserved to be respected, treated as equals, so in order to make her like me, I started believing that myself and that was when I opened my eyes to the ugly truth._

_Every single one of my teammates was a fucking bully (BTW- sorry for the language) that included my so called best friend, obviously to say we stopped talking to each other. I tried sticking up for people but they were so many that more often than not I would return home with a bruised eye or slushied clothes. Things were getting out of control and someone had to stop it, so I talked to the teachers, who did nothing, the principal, who also did nothing, and my coach, who actually helped. _

_By that time Quinn and I had started dating. She, her best friend, Sam, and I, were the only 'popular' kids who bought slushies to actually drink them and not throw them at someone else. So when I talked to coach Beste, Quinn did the same with hers and Sam with his, he was part of the swimming team, and combining forces the three women took over the school. They got the principal fired and took up the challenge of making the school a better place for everyone. That meant that bullies were given harsh punishments if caught in act and were forced to leave extracurricular activities such as the football team. Needless to say, they were not pleased and when they found out that it had been us three who had made all that happen school became hell. _

_I was happy though, I thought I had found the love of my life and my grades were good, good enough to get me a scholarship out of Lima if combined with my football skills. I just had to survive two more years and we would be out but things didn't go quite as I expected._

_Although I was sick the first day of junior year, I took a bunch of antibiotics and went to class anyways. Still, on my second period I felt really bad so I excused myself and went to see the nurse but I didn't get to her office because I heard screaming coming from the girl's bathroom and approached it._

_I remember shouting if someone needed help and in that second the yelling stopped, it all seemed a little off so I entered the room and found Azimio holding a terribly beat-up Kurt pinned against the wall. I recall lunching myself at Azimio and missing miserably but when he was just about to kick me another guy came in and beat the hell out of him, as you might have guessed that guy was Jesse. He was 'the new guy', just transferred from some expensive private institute, he had been lost and was wandering through the halls when he heard the same as me and came running. That was the first time he was there for me and it certainly wasn't the last. _

_After that Azimio was expelled, I learned that my mother was getting married, gained a brother and a new best friend. I was good, dreaming about winning the superbowl, being famous and rich and happily married. All those dreams came crashing down days before graduation. _

_Let me explain, as the blind idiot I was, I actually proposed to Quinn, yeah, stupid much? What kind of dumbass proposes to his girlfriend before finishing school, ding ding ding: me! But that's not the end of the story, oh no! It gets even better; she said no! Oh and on top of it all, after me proposing and her running away, she realized that she had been in love with Sam all along. As you can imagine those weren't the best days of my life. Plus, to make matters even worst, the next day the recruiter from the only college I had been able to apply told me that I was not good enough for them, nor was I for any other one. In the blink of an eye all my hopes and dreams had been destroyed leaving my world upside-down, I was depressed and mad at everyone but I got through it. _

_I didn't just tell you basically my whole high school experience for nothing; I swear it has an explanation. The thing is that if there is one thing a learned from that period of my life is that you can always take something positive out of every experience, even if it is as pathetic and stupid as my failed marriage proposal. Looking back now, I realize that if it hadn't been for Quinn I would've never changed, opened my eyes and helped the people I loved so much such as Kurt. If it hadn't been for her, I would probably never have met Jesse and if he and Kurt hadn't been in my life I would've never been able to get out of such a funk. Furthermore, if it hadn't been for my brother I would have never moved to NY and met you._

_Another thing I learned from it all is that sometimes the love of your life is just by your side and you just don't acknowledge it. Quinn and Sam are married with three beautiful children and I am truly happy for them. I am glad they found one another, I loved her and that is why I wanted the best for her, when I found out that that person wasn't me I was crashed but I understood that if I wanted her happy I had to back off. The bottom line here is that as much as I loved Quinn, it doesn't even begin to compare with how much I love you, Rachel. Therefore I want you to be happy too, you deserve the best in life, Rach, and that is certainly not me. _

_As you may know, Jesse is sick. He needs a healthy kidney and that is where I come in, I am giving him one of mine. That means that my best friend will stay alive but it also means I won't be the same. A lot of things will change and I will become a burden to everyone who stays by my side. I don't want to be a burden to you, Rach, I love you, I don't want to stop you from your fulfilling your lifelong ambitions, so I need to break up with you. It'll be the best for both of us, if you stay, you will be miserable and eventually hate me and I will hate myself but if you leave, I am sure you will find the man who is worthy of you and you will be delighted by him and I will be happy for you. We both know which man I am talking about, open your eyes, he's been by your side since day one. He's the perfect gentlemen, extremely handsome, he knows about all the Broadway stuff I have no idea about and you both share the most perfect, talented and intelligent daughter a parent could ask for. _

_What I mean is; don't waste your precious time with me whilst you can have the family of your dreams, Rachel. Saying this, breaking up with you, is the most painful experience I have ever undergone but even if I feel like my soul has been shattered into a billion pieces I know I'll eventually get over it, I did it once because I had Kurt and Jesse supporting me and if everything goes right I'll still have them. _

_I love you, Rachel Barbra Berry, and I highly doubt that I'll ever find someone as perfect as you so I hate doing this but I am certain it's for the best. As I said before, I've learned that there is always one positive thing out of everything but this relationship has proven me wrong. You didn't give me _one_ positive outcome, you gave me six months of utter happiness and I will be forever grateful for that. _

_I won't keep you for much longer, just one more last thing: I know that I am in no position of asking for anything but if you were kind enough to do me one last favor I would REALLY appreciate it. As much as you've brought pure joy in my life, Blaine has done the exact same thing to Kurt. I had never seen my brother in such a state of contentment yet lately he's been hurting and I suspect that he and Blaine have called it quits. I would be forever in debt with you if you could torment them until they solve whichever problem they had and make up. I would do it myself but I've been told that I am to stay at the hospital for a while. _

_You are one of a kind, Rachel. Please remind Brody to treat you well on my behalf, I doubt he won't but still._

_Forever yours, _

_Finn Christopher Hudson. _

By the time she reached the end, she was crying so hard she was actually soaking the piece of paper. Rachel knew for sure which man she loved, Finn had been right, she deserved that man and she was going to fight for him, no matter what or how long it took. She was not going to give up on him.

Rachel Barbra Berry never gives up.


	11. Born to make you happy

**Sorry it took me this long to update, the chapter is quite long ... please dont hate me, i got carried away =) Enjoy oh, the title comes form the princess of pop 's song, yeah, the one and only Britney Spears. **

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**

**Chapter 10**

**Born to make you happy. **

Rachel ended up crying herself to sleep that night. Yes, she was strong but this last month had been so incredibly overwhelming, she needed to release all that anguish somehow and so she did. It had been all so surreal and intense. In such a short period of time she had felt such a wide variety of emotions, it was almost impossible for her mind to keep up.

Basically, in three-four weeks all this happened: it had been announced that she would be staring a new movie-good!-, she suffered this HUGE and terrible accident-bad-, almost died-worst-, almost lost her newly gained (officially speaking) daughter-even worst-, her boyfriend and her closest friends had been at risk too-again, awful-, found out that one of them suffers from the big C-do I really have to say it? Horrible!-, was forced against her will not to leave her own house-suffocating- and on top of it all, her boyfriend broke up with her via letter (really? A letter? What is this, the 18hundreds?) over the idea that her true love was in fact her best friend-unbelievable!-.

Of course she absolutely loved Brody but not in _that_ way.

She had to solve this big mess immediately but she was exhausted, deadly so, therefore she decided tomorrow would be the big day, the day in which once and for all it would all be cleared out and they would all get back to their normal lives. It's funny how we realize how lucky we are when it's too late, when all the things we took for granted are gone. Actually, it isn't funny, not at all, it's really depressing.

She woke up at 7 am sharp, showered, got dressed and exited her room. As she stepped into the kitchen she saw Santana and Brittany laughing and having breakfast.

-'Rachel,'- Santana was surprised; she hadn't expected seeing her up this early and looking so _fine_. She hadn't read Finn's letter but after all they had talked about she knew exactly what it said.-'ho-how are you?'-

-'Angry, frustrated, sad, exhausted and mad.'- She answered whilst preparing her own food.-'Hi, Brittany'- she added much more cheery.

-'Hi, Rach.'-the blonde smiled and helped her shorter friend reach a take away mug from the top shelf which was way too high for her.

-'Thanks.'-

-'I take it you are going out.'-The Latina commented after throwing a glance at her clothes.

-'Yes.'-

-'Are you going to see him?'- She asked.

-'Among other things.'-

-'Such as…?'-

-'Such as visiting Sophie, speaking to Brody and solving whatever problem there is between Blaine and Kurt.'-

-'Those are a lot of things to do in one day.'-

-'Yeah well, I have to catch up with the world after being secluded in my own house for weeks.'- she replied sternly.

-'I said I'm sorry, okay? I thought I was doing the right thing!'- Santana snapped.-'I wanted to protect you from ending with a broken heart.'-

-'How? By not letting me leave the apartment for the rest of my life? Sooner or later I was bound to hear from Finn, Santana. You were just postponing the inevitable.'-

Her roommate stayed quiet, she didn't even look at Rachel.

-'Answer me for god's sake!'-

-'She was trying to persuade Finn not to break up with you.'-Brittany broke the silence.-'All the time you were being watched by someone else here she was at the hospital talking to him, not on a business meeting, not on a date with me, not out at a bar. No, she was visiting YOUR boyfriend and trying to make YOUR relationship work.'- She would not see her girlfriend get mistreated and say nothing.

-'What?'- Rachel asked incredulously.-'Why didn't you say so?'-

-'Because I failed. I never got to convince him, the boy is almost as stubborn as you are.'- she confessed.

-'But I don't understand why.'-Rachel spoke softly getting closer and closer to her best friend.

-'I love you, Rachel, I don't want to see you cry over a boy, I don't want to see you hurt.'-

-'Thank you, and I love you too.'- she embraced Santana in a tight hug.-'I appreciate it, but I am a grown woman, Sanny, I have to fight my own battles.'- she added looking at her straight in the eye.

-'Ok.'-

-'I am sorry for interrupting this beautiful scene,'- Brittany said-' but, Rachel, how come you are not crying or a mess? Didn't Finn break up with you?'-

-'Did I succeed?'-Santana inquired too.

-'No, he did break up with me.'- the Broadway star said looking down to the floor.

-'So…?'-

-'I am not going to cry around the house and do nothing to change it, especially when he's doing it because he thinks I'm in love with Brody!-

-'WAIT, WHAT!? He never mentioned that.'-

-'You are in love with Brody!?'- Brittany asked shocked.

-'NO! Of course not! But because some stupid ex fell in love with her best friend when they were together during his high school years he now thinks that the story is bound to repeat itself.'- she explained.-'That's why I'm going down there this afternoon to clear thing out.'

-'I can give you a ride if you want, I was planning on visiting Jesse sometime today.'-Brittany offered.

-'That would be lovely, thank you.'-

Xoxoxxooxoxoxo

She knocked on the door for several minutes before a very half-a-sleep Brody opened it.

-'Oh, hi, Rach, what are you doing here?'-

-'Hi, I wanted to speak with you for a minute and take Sophie for lunch. Where is she?'- Brody's apartment was silent and that never happened when the little girl was in it.

-'She's still sleeping, like every other kid in New York city, Rachel, its 8.30 am on a Saturday.'-

-'Sorry, didn't realize, I have a lot of stuff to do so I'll take her out for breakfast.'-

-'Okay.'-

-'And when we come back I need a word.'-

-'Got it, until then, I think I'll go back to bed, thanyouverymuch! See ya, have fun.'-

-'Don't you have rehearsals today?'-

-'No, they got canceled, lucky me. Believe me, if I had known I would have to get up this early every weekend, I would've never chosen this career. I'd much rather have a nighttime job.'-

-'You can always become an escort, I am sure you would do a mighty fine job!'- She commented giggling.

-'haha, very funny, I'll go back to sleep now, see you in a bit.'-

-'Laters, sleepyhead.'-

Xoxoxoxoxoooxoxoxox

Breakfast with Sophie had been fun, the change of air combined with cookies and even more coffee had significantly lightened her mood but now she had to talk to Brody and then go straight to the hospital.

-'Soph, have you seen Uncle Kurt lately?'- Rachel asked as they made their way back to the apartment.

-'Only when we go to the hospital.'-

-'You've been visiting the hospital often?'-

-'Yes, daddy says we have to help Uncle Jesse and Finn get better and always thank them for what they did the night of the fire.'-

-'Huh…'- So apparently everyone had visited them except for her, how nice. -'Do you have any idea how Blaine is?'-

-'You mean after the break up?'- Okay… she hadn't expected Sophie to be aware of that.

-'How do you know about that, honey?'-

-'I was there when it all went down.'-Rachel didn't want to call Sophie a liar but she found it extremely hard to believe that Kurt and Blaine would argue in front of her. Upon seeing the skeptical look on her mother's face Sophie added:-'Dad, Blaine and I were at the hospital and I wanted a snack so Blaine took me to the cafeteria while daddy went to check on Finn. When we arrived there Uncle Kurt was ordering coffee, he looked tired and not his usual self, they started talking and B gave me money to buy myself some food and told me to go back to Jesse's room but there was this loooong queue so it took me some time to get my snacks. They must've figured I had already left because adults never fight in front of me…'-

-'Did you hear what they fought over?'-

-'A little, B wanted Uncle Kurt to stop worrying so much and he said that B didn't know the first thing about being a brother or a friend, then they started yelling to each other and I got frightened so I ran away. When I found daddy he told me that sometimes, when grownups are in a relationship they fight. I asked him if they were going to be friends again and he said he didn't know.'-

-'Oh, honey, I am so sorry you had to go through that.'- Rachel hugged her daughter tightly.

-'It's okay… but, do YOU know if they are going to be friends again anytime soon? I liked Uncle Kurt, ad B seemed so happy… I miss them both so much.'-

-'I sure hope so… Soph, what do you mean you miss Blaine? When was the last time you saw him?'-

-'A couple days ago, we have lunch together every three days or so but he never stays for over an hour, and every time daddy wants to speak with him he says he has to go. He seems distracted, off, sad. I miss _my_ old B'-The little girl stopped for a second before going on.-'I just wish everyone was happy like you and Finn.'-

Rachel froze at the comment. She was not going to tell Sophie about her own recent break up, she had to play along.

-'get yourself together, Berry, you are an actress, you should know how to lie. JUST PLAY ALONG!'- she commanded herself but it wasn't that easy, she was used to telling Sophie nothing but the truth.

-'Y-yes, honey, I-I wish that too.'-

Xoxoxoxooxx

When they arrived to the apartment Brody was working out to extremely loud rock music.

-'Such a nice environment for my little princess.'- Rachel joked and Sophie giggled sweetly.

-'What are you talking about? Sophie LOVES Guns and Roses don't you, hun?'- A very sweaty Brody asked picking up the little blonde and kissed her.

-'They are cool. Uh! Daddy, you are all dirty, it's nauseating!'-

-'"nauseating"? Oh, Soph, I thing you are spending far too much time with Rachel.'-

-'Stop! Stop!'- she pleaded when her father started tickling her.

-'Say you love me and that you don't care if I am sweaty or not!'- Brody demanded smirking.

-'I-I love and I do-don't care if you are sweaty or-or not!'- The little girl managed to mutter between shrieks of laughter.

-'And say that daddy is the best man in the world and that you'll never grow up or have a boyfriend!'-

-'BRODY!'- Rachel scolded.

-'I'm kidding, I'm kidding.'- he said putting the girl down.-'Soph, why don't you go take a shower now? I'll need one myself later.'-

-'Sure.'- and with that she bounced towards the bathroom.

-'So, what did you want to talk about?'- Brody asked once he was sure their daughter had turned on the water and therefore was out of earshot.

-'I- '- in that precise moment the bell rang. Her friend opened the door and let in an also sweaty Cassandra July, from what she looked like Rachel guessed she must've been out jogging. What was it with being all sweaty and dirty this early in the day? Uhhhhh… healthy-sport-lovers people, she would never understand them.

-'Hi, baby.'- Brody greeted his girlfriend.

-'Hi.'- they shared a brief kiss.-'Hi, Rachel.'

-'Hello, Cassie. Nice to see you.'- Rachel smiled, though they weren't close friends, Cassandra had never done anything to upset her or her daughter so they were cool.

-'Likewise.'- she replied making her way to the kitchen.-'Honey, I ran over two miles so if you don't mind I need water.'- TWO MILES? God… she definitely didn't understand fit people, who would want to torture him-herself for that long!?

-'Sure, there are tons in the fridge, help yourself.'- he then turned towards Rachel.-'So, you were saying..?'-

-'Brody, do you love me? And I am not talking about friend to fiend love, no, I mean romantic relationship kind of love. Marriage speaking kind of love'- yeah, she didn't like beating around the bush, so she just went straight to the point.

In the kitchen Cassi spitted out the whole glass of water she had just gulped and now stared at them wide eyed.

-'No.'-Brody answered calmly and seriously.-'I love you as my closest friend and the mother of my daughter but not in that way. Do you?'-

-'Should I leave?'- the blonde asked but neither Brody nor Rachel answered, they were too busy focusing on each other. This was actually a very serious matter, everyone repeated again and again that one day they would end up together; that they were 'endgame' so it was for the best if they just cleared things up once and for all.

-'No, I don't.'- Rachel suddenly turned around and started walking towards the door.-'that said, I love Finn, and I am going to see if I can get him back. Say bye to Sophie for me, see you Cassie, bye Brod.'-

-'Bye, Rach, best of luck.'-

-'You guys are such weirdos.'- his girlfriend stated form the couch.-'Serously, you creeped the hell out of me.'-

-'Oh, you have no idea.'- he smirked sitting next to her and taking her hand in his.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

-'Hi, I am here to see Finn Hudson.'- Rachel politely acquainted the nurse.

-'I am sorry madam but that won't be possible, the doctor is currently running some tests on Mr. Hudson.'

'_You've got to be kidding me! And don't "madam" me missy! It sounds so old!'-_Rachel wanted to scream but she controlled herself.

-'Could I visit Jesse St. James instead, please?'- she asked.

-'Sure, this way, follow me.'-

-'Thanks.'-

When Rachel saw Jesse she couldn't believe her eyes, he looked _SO_ skinny.

-'Oh god, Jesse…'-

-'Hey, Rachel.'-he sat up on his bed while she took the chair that was next to him.'-how are you?'- You could see it took him great effort to speak but his voice was loud and clear, just a tiny bit quivery.

-'I am all right, thanks to you, to both of you. How are _you_?'-

-'I am good, a little exhausted. They said it would take some time for my body to adapt to the new kidney but I'm hanging in there.'

-'Wait a second, they have already performed the operation?'- How long had Santana kept that letter from her?

-'Yes, that was over a week ago. Haven't you seen Finn yet?'-

Rachel didn't answer that. She was too ashamed, how on earth was she going to make it up to him? Well, now that she thought about it, he _had_ broken up with her so perhaps they could call it even.

-'I'll take your silence as a 'no'. So, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with him!?'-

-'I was under "house arrest", but I am here to see him now! They told me he was being checked by the doctor at the moment so I thought I could pay you a visit in the meantime.'-

-'Oh, so I am your rebound, how flattering.'- he said chuckling.-'Anyways, is everything alright with the two of you?'- Jesse wasn't sure if Finn had actually gone through with the break up thing so he might as well ask.

-'You know about the letter, don't you?'-

-'No...'-

-'You didn't know he "broke up" with me!?'- she was a little taken aback by the revelation, if there was one thing Rachel knew about he (ex?)boyfriend was that he told absolutely EVERYTHING to his best friend.

-'Oh, I knew he was thinking about it but wasn't sure if he had really done it. Wait, you said a letter? What is this the eighteen hundreds?'-

-'that's exactly what I thought! Anyways, he wrote me this really heartbreaking letter in which he explained the sad beautiful tragedy your high school experience was like, how his girlfriend ended up with her best friend and how you guys supported him, yeah, he poured his heart out, very unlike Finn but it was actually _very_ romantic. That was until I read that he was breaking up with me…'-

-'So, let me see if I got this straight; Finn Hudson, MY Finn Hudson, the boy who finds it hard to express in a clear way which type of pie he wants for dessert without rambling like an idiot, wrote you a letter in which he ended things with you, the girl he calls his 'future wife'?'-

-'He calls me his future wife?'- Rachel was completely flabbergasted. -'my god…'- She HAD to make up with him _now_.

-'Well, he did until recently…'-It slipped out before he could even think about it.-'I am sorry, that was harsh.'-

-'It's okay, I am here to solve all this.'- She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

-'Good.'-

_Awkward silence alert! Ding ding ding!_

-'You know, when I was younger I wanted to be on Broadway too,'-Rachel looked up and gave him an honest smile this time.

-'Really?'- She asked intrigued, she would've never imagined.

-'Yeah, for like a week, then I decided it took to much effort, you know, rehearsals, classes and all… but my parents were really supportive, they even bought me a midsized loft near school for me to have that special, quiet place to practice my singing and stuff…'- he commented beaming.

-'They bought you a loft!?'-Rachel stared at him wide eyed.

-'Yeah, it's not that big deal, not for my family. We are talking about the same people that bought me a whole building a block away from central park when I told them Finn, Kurt and I were planning on coming to New York.'- He confessed blushing just a little bit.

-'WHAT? A WHOLE APARTMENT BUILDING? HOW!? THAT TAKES A LOT OF MONEY'- He didn't reply right away.-'Jesse, how rich are you?'-

-'My parents are extremely wealthy… to say the least.'- He muttered the last under his breath.-'They are business people and that sort of things.'-

-'How come you are a firefighter then? And what are you doing here!? Why aren't you at some sort of fancy hospital!?'-Rachel didn't stop firing questions at him for a second, not even to breath in.-'OH MY GOD, Jesse, is your family aware of all this?'-

-'Rachel, Rachel, calm down. First things first, yes, of course they know, the come every single day and try to convince me to quit my job. Second, I am a firefighter because I like being one, and third, no matter which hospital I stay in, there was no way of taking the cancer away from my body, unlike common belief; money can't buy one's health, so I'd rather stay here, with all of you than be alone somewhere else.'-

-'Oh…'- For the first time since he had met her, Jesse found Rachel speechless, that was something to behold.-'Why did you keep it a secret from me?'- she asked a little offended.

-'I did not keep it a secret from you! I just… how and when was I supposed to bring it up? When we first met? "Hi, my name is Jesse and my family has more money than all the producers you ever worked with combined." That doesn't sound nice, does it?'-

-'Ok, I get your point. Although, I still believe you could've mentioned it somehow…'- Looking back, the diva realized she had always seen Jesse either in his uniform or just jeans and t-shirt, even freaking billionaires wear that outfit, don't they? Plus, she had never been to his apartment, Sophie had though, she should ask her how it is, it must be really fancy, no doubt about that. Still, she couldn't believe Jesse had that much money… who would've guessed?

-'Wanna know the main reason I don't go telling everyone I meet my family is well off?'-

-'You fear they would kidnap you and ask for one hell of a ransom?'-

-'Ok, the second reason.'-

-'Sure, tell me.'-

-'I hate how people look at you in a different way after knowing it. Most of them don't take you seriously because they think mommy and daddy bought your way to your position and then there are the ones who imagine all the things you could buy them, they stop seeing you as a person and start visualizing a walking wallet full of thousand-dollar bills. And it's hard being a fifteen-year-old and suddenly realizing all your "friends" aren't really there for you but for the cash.'-

-'I am sorry, Jesse, I can't imagine what that must have felt like. Was that why you transferred to Kurt's high school?'-

-'Yeah, I wanted to start clean, I kept my family's status in the dark and for a whole week nobody noticed me, it was as if I wasn't even there, and I loved it. But after befriending Finn and his gang it became even better. I no longer was Jesse St. James, "my family could probably buy your whole neighborhood" but Jesse, "Finn, Kurt, Sam and Quinn's best friend".'

-'That must have been nice.'-

-'You have no idea.'-he smiled remembering all the fun things they had done together.-'With them, it didn't matter if you had five hundred or 2 dollars in your pocket, they made you feel loved.'-

-'Did you tell them right away about your fortune or did you keep quiet?'-

-'I told Quinn first and nothing changed. That encouraged me to tell everyone else, you wouldn't believe how happy I was.'-

-'So this Quinn girl, she really did make an impact on each and every one of you. Hard to complete against that…'- She really didn't wanna admit it but she was jealous, why did suddenly everyone love her? And why did they all make her seem so perfect? For god's sake, she must have had one freaking flaw!

-'Not that hard actually, she fucking broke my best friends heart so as long as you don't do the same you'll be my favorite.'- He pointed out beaming at her.-'I am not mad at her though, we now understand that she simply wasn't that much into Finn as she was into Sam.'-

'Oh right, she totally bitched Finn out, ha! Take that Ms. Perfect! As it turns out you were not so perfect after all…'- Rachel couldn't help but smile at her trail of thoughts.

-'So… ummm… As much as I enjoyed this nice walk down memory lane, I think my buddy should be ready to see you.'-

-'Oh, right, yeah, I should go see if I am allowed in now.'

-'Ummm, Rachel, one more thing…'-

-'Yeah?'-

-'Please don't give up on him, he can be really stubborn but I was stating the truth when I said he wanted to marry you. He just has some trouble with self-loathing .'-

-'Don't worry, I am not planning on letting him go.'- and with that she gave him one last smile and disappeared through the door.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'If you care to wait here for a minute, Mr. Hudson will be right back.'- the nurse said before leaving her alone in Finn's room, sans Finn.

She just sat there for a while, until she got too bored and started sniffing around. Taking a look around the room she noticed it seemed quite homey. Well, Fin had spent here the last month so she shouldn't have been surprised by all the decorations, Kurt's work probably.

There were photographs everywhere, some flowers (who had gotten HER boyfriend flowers?), a midsize sign which read: "We all root for you and want you back by our sides so recover already!_ Your NYFD buddies"-how sweet- and of course the usual get well cards.

Out of all the frames in the room, a particular one caught her eye. It was a digital one in which it was displayed a slideshow of photographs of both of them. There were pictures from Kurt's birthday party, hilarious ones from a photo booth in which they had had fun in at a festival, from the times they went hiking together, some they had taken at her apartment and even from the one time they went on a picnic to central park. Who had given him this? And how did that person have access to all this images? As far as she knew she was the only one that had copies of them.

She couldn't help but smile at all those incredible memories, they looked so happy, so content, what had they done wrong? She couldn't think of an answer, one minute they were celebrating six months of an amazing and wonderful relationship and the next she is reading a break up letter. What the hell?

Had she not made it clear that she loved him with all her might? Had she been too touchy and friendly with Brody in front of him? She didn't think so… Was all this madness her fault? She wasn't sure either.

Oh God, she was getting nervous. How was she going to make up with him? What was she going to say? "Hi Finn, I know we haven't seen each other in almost a month but I am here to tell you that I don't accept your break up so let's continue being the awesome couple we are."?

'That sounds terrible and really lame.'- She thought to herself.-'Oh God, what am I going to do? I should've thought this through.'- She needed time, she needed a plan! She had to think fast, he could walk in in any second.

As if on cue Finn entered the room with the help of a slim blonde who got him by his arm, they were laughing at some joke, she hadn't been able to make out what it was about.

'OH MY FUCKING GOD, IS THIS QUINN!?'-She asked herself.-'Or worse, is she his new girlfriend!?'- She looked younger than him therefore it couldn't be his ex… so that only left option number two. SHIT! Rachel couldn't help it, her eyes became teary as she stood there staring at them wide eyed.-'What did you expect, Rachel? He hasn't heard from you in a month! He might as well have already moved on.'

Time froze. She didn't move, scratch that, she couldn't move and apparently neither could him, he was looking down at her appearing completely puzzled.

-'Mmmm, hello?'-Barbie was the first one to break the silence.

-'I am sorry, I didn't know you had company.'-She whispered before launching herself to the closest exit so no one would see her cry.

-'Rachel, wait!'- but it was too late, she had already sprinted out of sight.-'Kitti, follow her, make her come back, please.'- He pleaded and she obeyed.

-'Sure, but don't you want me to help you get to your bed first?'- She asked confusion clear on her face.

-'No, go! GO NOW! Please.'- he would have ran after her himself but his body wouldn't let him.

-'Okay, okay, I'll be right back.'-

Rachel felt so, SO stupid. What had she expected, finding him with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and his heart in the other patiently waiting for her? They'd exchange "I love you"s and two minutes later they'd live their happy ever after.

'Wake up, Rachel, this is real life.'-She scolded herself. Still the worst part was that she couldn't be mad at Finn. This wasn't his fault, he had legitimately ended things with her before hooking up with Barbie so there was no excuse for her to feel betrayed like she did.

Catching a glimpse of the door to the ladies toilet she made her way to it where she finally let go and cried her eyes out.

Just 20 minutes later her phone went off. She was going to let the call go straight to voicemail but seeing it was Santana she decided against it and picked up.

-'Hello?'-

-'Hey, Brittany, Marley and I are on our way to the hospital, want to meet us there?'-

Oh no, she wasn't going to be able to face them right now, not without breaking down once again.

-'I- I don't know, Sann, I think I might not visit him today after all.'- She answered in a quivery voice which didn't go unnoticed by her best friend.

-'Diva, is everything okay?'- Silence… The huge lump on throat prevented her from speaking -'Rachel, what's wrong? Where are you? I'll go get you, just tell me.'

-'Everything went horrible and I don't know what to do.'- Her voice cracked at the end and fresh tears started falling once again.

-'It's okay, just tell me where you are and stay there.'-

-'I'm at the hospital, in the bathroom. I am such an idiot, San.'-

-'At the hospital, hurry up.'-she heard the Latina tell someone else, probably Brittany. -'Rach, you are not an idiot, far from it really, just wait for us, we'll be there in a minute.'-

-'Ok…'-

As promised, the girls arrived shortly after.

-'What happened?'- Marley asked concerned, kneeling next to her friend.

-'I'm an idiot, that's what happened.'- Rachel replied no longer crying, she had run out of tears long ago.

-'What are you talking about? Rachel, tell us!'- Santana demanded.

-'I came to see him, okay?'- she spoke a little too harshly.-'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you.'-She apologized.

-'We get it, you are mad. Keep talking.'-Santana waved it off.

-'I came but he was unavailable so I talked with Jesse for a while and got my hopes up. I thought- I thought… I thought I would be able to solve everything just by showing up here but when I saw Finn… '- words failed her.-'Bottom line is: he has already moved on.'-

-'WHAT? That's impossible, he still gets teary eyes every time he sees any of us because we remind him of you!'-Marley pointed out.-'And don't even get me started on when someone mentions your name, the boy practically sobs at the sound of it, Rach.'

-'Well, as it turns out he has already found a new shoulder to cry on…'- Rachel stated smiling bitterly.

-'That can't be right, Rachel, you must have got it wrong…'-Brittany interjected.

-'Why do you say that? What did he tell you?'- Marley questioned, she still couldn't wrap her mind around the news.

-'He didn't need to. I was waiting for him at his room when he arrived arm in arm with a Barbie lookalike, I couldn't bear seeing him with someone else so I run away as fast as I possibly could.'-

-'So you didn't talk to him or give him time to explain?'-Santana asked immediately.-'Oh, Rachel… this could be just one big misunderstanding!'-

-'I highly doubt it.'- Rachel muttered under her breath.

-'For God's sake, you guys were made to make each other happy and you know it! Come on, we need to go to the cafeteria, get you something to eat and then take you to Finn so as to clear this mess.'-Her roommate announced helping her up.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

-'Finnegan!'- The Latina shouted entering his room without as much as a warning.

-'Hello, Santana.'-He greeted without looking up from his laptop. It had been almost two hours since Rachel had dashed out of there and he had lost all hope, so now he was writing her an email.-'How are you?'-

-'Not alone.'-She answered. Not really understanding what she meant he took a glimpse at her and was shocked by the sight in front of him: Santana, Marley, Brittany and last but most certainly not least Rachel glared at him with arms folded.

-'Please don't kill me.'- Finn knew that four angry women was something to behold, he had to be careful or things could end up pretty badly. He closed his computer and carefully placed it over the bedside table.

-'Care to explain why my friend here thinks you have a little slut as a girlfriend, Hudson?'-

-'Excuse me? And which friend are we talking about? There are three of them here.'-

-'Me.'- Rachel whispered, her expression had noticeably softened and she looked hurt. What was going on? Daring to glance at the rest of the girls he realized they had all stopped frowning angrily at him and were now looking at their friend worriedly.

-'Rachel, I don't know who told you what but I am not seeing anyone.' He spoke solely to her.

-'Don't you dare lie to me, Finn.'- She threatened with watery eyes.

-'I am not! I swear!'- He remarked.-'I've been stuck here moping over our break up since forever, how could I have met someone else, let alone like someone else when I am obviously still in love with you?'-

-'Why did you put an end to us then? I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH BRODY, FINN, I LOVE YOU! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO US?'- Rachel snapped.

-'We'll give you guys some privacy.'- Marley whispered getting out of there followed by Santana and Brittany.

-'I thought I was doing the right thing.'-Finn replied in a low voice.

-'Well, you were wrong and now we are both hurting and I just can't understand why! It was you I told "I love you" every night and not him, it was you I kissed and it was you with whom I slept with for almost seven months! How could I make it any clearer?'- They were both crying now and staring fixedly at each other's eyes.-'Why did you do it?'- She repeated in a much softer voice.

-'I had my reasons, ok? A month ago I was a strong stupid asshole who just felt this was all too good to be true but then the fire happened and now I have only one kidney, which makes me a weak stupid asshole.'-He wiped away his tears and went on.-'I am not what's best for you, Rachel, it may not be Brody either, but somewhere there is a guy who is.'

-'But I want you! Why is it so hard to understand!?'-

-'BECAUSE YOU'LL LEAVE! JUST LIKE THE REST!'- Rachel gaped astonished at his reaction.-'you tell me you love me now but as soon as you realize what kind of idiot I am you'll leave.'-

-'Why do you speak so negatively of yourself? Who left you?'-he was looking down at his fists and she could see angry tears soak his cheeks once again. Who had done this to him? She slowly approached him and took his face in her hands, delicately forcing him to look at her. -'what is it, Finn? Are you talking about Quinn?'- His expression broke her heart; he seemed utterly hurt with those cinnamon puppy eyes.

-'Hah,'- He laughed bitterly.-'she did leave too, thanks for the reminder, but that's not it.'- He looked so miserable, what the hell had happened to him?

-'Please, tell me.'- She begged still holding his face close to hers.

She thought it was a lost cause, that he never would, but after a minute of silence he gave in.

-'You know how they say parents love their children no matter what?'- He asked ashen faced to which she nodded.-'Yeah well, I proved them wrong.'-

-'What are you talking about? Burt and Carole love you dearly and adore you with all their might.'- Rachel was pretty sure his mother wasn't capable of feeling anything but love, she seemed so caring and devoted, it was a pleasure to see.

-'Burt may be my dad but he is not my father, Rach.'-Realization hit her suddenly, they had never spoken about his father, furthermore she didn't even know his name.-'My biological father left me when I was five and I haven't seen him ever since.'-

-'Oh, Finn… I am so sorry.'- how could someone do this to him? She had seen pictures of him as a kid ok? She was a hundred percent positive he had been the cutest boy ever!

-'Oh, don't be, you don't know the best part yet.'-He said letting more and more tears run down his sideburns.-'Wanna know the last words he told me before taking off and leaving my mom absolutely crashed?'-Rachel wiped his tears with her thumbs and nodded once more.-'I remember him smirking at me as he said: "You are a huge disappointment, Finny, I thought you were going to be so much smarter and capable, but hey, maybe next time I see you you'll have improved. Who knows? Think positive, kiddo, anything could happen." Then he threw away his cigarette, loaded his stuff to the trunk and drove off, just like that.'-

By that point Rachel was silently sobbing too. She truly loved him, everything that affected him affected her just as much. And seeing him like this, it was devastating. 'My God, what kind of monster says that to a kid?'-She thought to herself.

-'I don't know what to say…Actually, I do. Finn, your father was a stupid son of a bitch and he doesn't deserve your tears. He left and look what happened, your mother met another wonderful man who turned out to be an outstanding father figure for you to look up to and you gained an awesome brother on the way too. I know it was hard, but it clearly was for the better. What kind of loving parent says such thing to his child? Don't let it affect you, screw him.'-

-'That may be true but…'-

-'Hey, no "but"s. It's true, look at the beautiful family you have now.' –She let go of his face and handed him a photograph of the four of them; Carole, Burt, Kurt and him smiling and doing funny faces at the camera, looking like the perfect (crazy) happy family they were.

He studied the picture for a minute before looking up at her and letting one last tear roll down.-'You are right but that doesn't take away the fact that my own father considered me a worthless piece of scum who would never succeed in life, and … and, I haven't proved him wrong.'-

'So that's where all this self-loathing comes from! That stupid son of a bitch!'- She concluded in her mind.

-'Finn Hudson, I am going to tell you something and you are going to listen to me VERY carefully,'- she grabbed the family portrait and placed it once again were it belonged. Then taking his hands in hers she rested her forehead against his, just like he had done after their first date. After closing her eyes she spoke softly.-'those things your father told you were completely false. You were an excellent son then and you most certainly still are. Honey, I would never lie to you so please believe when I say you are not a disappointment, on the contrary, you make us all extremely proud each and every day. You've accomplished so much at such a young age. '- Not opening her eyes just yet, she inched her mouth closer to his and gave him a brief but paramount kiss.-'Please believe me.'- She kissed him again seeking and offering solace.

-'What did I ever do to deserve you?'- He breathed though she suspected he was asking himself and not her.

When she opened her eyes she saw him smile for the first time since what seemed forever.

-'You want me to tell you the whole list? I've got to warn you though, it could take a while. It is quite a long list.'- She smiled back at him. His only response was a huge bear hug, and she couldn't have thought of a better answer than such strong, hearty embrace.

Nothing could ruin that moment, she was so happy in his arms. That was the one and only place she belonged to. Unfortunately for her, one question popped into her mind and stained the peaceful scene: Who was the blonde she'd seen earlier? Oh, how she wished she could just erase her from her memory…


	12. At the end of the day

**I highly recommend at least reading the last few lines of the previous chapter cause, as you know, it's been a while, just to kind of remember where we were. Sorry for the delay. Tittle after one of the best songs from the musical Les miserable. One more thing, I am introducing another character we all know but you would have never guessed whose love interest she'll be portraying, I pretty sure there no other FF which has this pairing. Remain open minded. Anyways, try to enjoy.**

**Broadway, meet the NYFD**

**Chapter 12**

**At the end of the day.**

She was still in his strong embrace when she dared ask.

-'Finn, who was that girl?'-

-'Which girl?'- He asked, his voice soft, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

His day had completely changed once he saw Rachel in his room, and it had changed even more after the talk they had just had. What had started just like any other dull, boring day in that depressing hospital was now a dream come true. Rachel was here, with him, Jesse was getting better, his family was safe and happy and he, he felt blessed, peaceful. Now he found himself holding the love of his life in his arms, knowing nothing would ever tare them apart again, not his self-loathing problem, not fires, not health scares, nothing. Somehow everything had worked out and he just had to make sure things stayed that way.

He realized of course, he was not living in paradise. He probably didn't have a job anymore, his brother wasn't at his best and they, as a couple, still had to figure out a lot of things. But after the rough patch he and his loved ones had just undergone, no money problem could trouble him, he knew he would get through it, he was absolutely sure about it, and conviction was something that didn't come that easy to him all too often.

-'The Barbie lookalike, blonde beauty, you were hugging when I was here earlier.'- She muttered in a low voice not moving her face from where it rested on top of his shoulder.

-'Oh, that's Kitty, she's a dear.'- He answered without missing a beat, completely oblivious to his girlfriend's sad tone.

-'Is she, like, your friend or something? You guys seemed awfully cozy together…'-

-'We are more than friends...'- She didn't let him finish abruptly freeing herself from his arms and backing away without turning her back to him.-'Hey, what are you doing?'-

-'I KNEW IT!'- She kind of shouted, not to insult him but kind of to herself for not asking sooner.

-' Wha-what did you know?'- He could now see her reddish face and watery eyes. She looked hurt and angry. What the hell had happened? Why was she like this?-'Hey, hey, what's wrong?'-She looked utterly hurt and he was clueless, god, what had he done now?

-'So… You are with her too?'- Her voice was barely audible, though its quiver and uneasiness was highly noticeable.

And that's when it clicked. (It took a while but he finally got it.)

-'WHAT? NO!'- He tried getting up but his body wouldn't let him so he had to make his case from bed.-Rachel, Rachel, you completely misunderstood.'-

-'You just said you were more than friends, Finn, how can someone misunderstand that?'- she questioned ashen faced and not looking at him but at her knotted hands.

-'You didn't let me finish! Rachel, please, please come nearer, please.'- He begged from bed, he couldn't bear see her like this over a stupid confusion and not be able to comfort her.

He waited but she wouldn't move, not her feet to get closer to him nor her eyes from where they stared at the floor. Therefore, he decided he might as well give it a shot and try explaining from bed.

-'Her name is Kitty, and no, we are not just friends, you got that right.'-Upon hearing this she looked up and Finn caught sight of a single tear rolling down her cheek. It broke him more than any surgery ever would. He then realized she was turning and about to sprint once again but he wouldn't let it happen this time.-'WAIT! Wait, she's not my girlfriend or anything from that sort either! Believe me! I would never be with anyone other than you, ever! I swear.'-

She wanted to believe him, she really did, but …

-'Rachel look at me, please just turn.'-This time she obliged but still she wouldn't get any closer.-'She's Jesses sister, I've known since I met Jesse all those years ago, and we are close. That's why I say we are not friends, we are kind of family, I think of her a sister more than any other thing!'-

-'Don't try make a fool of me, Finn Hudson.' –She replied angrily.

-'I'm not! Why would you say that?'-

-'Well for starters, because there's no way Jesse and Barbie are siblings.'-

-'Her name is Kitty, stop calling her Barbie, she wouldn't like that.'- He fired bothered. As much as he loved Rachel and he wanted to make things right with her, he wouldn't let her call his 'sister' by any other way than her actual name.

-'Whatever, I don't really care, that's not the point. The thing is there's no way that girl is Jesses' sister! She's blonde for god's sake! I might not be a genius at biology but I am sure families usually share some resemblance, and the only similarity I see between those two is that they both have two eyes, a mouth and a nose just like any other human being I know. So, you are either lying to me or…'-

Truth be told, Finn was getting kind of mad himself due to the fact that she wouldn't believe him, I mean, they were a couple, weren't they? Shouldn't they trust each other? That and the fact that she had disrespectfully dismissed his plea for her to call Kitty by her name was annoying him quite a much. Despite that, he remained his cool self.

-'Let me ask you something, Rachel, which physical features do you think make you and your fathers look alike?'- He questioned calmly.

-'That's totally different, you know I'm adopted… oh god.'- and that's when she realized they had been fighting just because her insecurity had clouded her better judgment.-'She's adopted isn't she?'- She asked unconsciously taking a step forward.

-'Not just Kitty, they both are. Their mother suffers from some sort of disease for which she would die if she ever were to give birth so they decided to adopt instead.'-

-'How do you know so much about the matter? I don't think that's something I would like strangers, people I have no idea exist, talking about.'- She took another step closer.

-'I am no stranger to their family; they consider me a son just as much as my mom and Burt see Jesse as their own.'-

-'And they just told you out of the blue one day?'- One more.

-'Absolutely not. Not even Jesse knew about it until he was seventeen. I'm simply aware of it because I was just there when he found out, and that very same day Kitty did too. They both stayed at my house for a week before coming to terms with it and realized no matter whose bloodline they shared, they were brother and sister and the St. James were their parents.'-

-'That's a beautiful story.'- She was right next to him, still neither would touch each other.-'I am sorry, I behaved foolishly and started a fight for no reason.'- she apologized placing her hands over his.

-'It's okay, it just hurts that you don't trust me after all this time, after all we've talked…'-

-'I do! I swear I do, it's just that… as much as you have those self-loathing problems, I have trust issues. I've been cheated on before, several times, and it got me paranoid. That said, I know there's absolutely no excuse for me to not trust you so I apologize, again.'-

-'It's ok, just don't do in again. Please.'- He took her hands in his and lightly pushed her towards himself, taking his lead, she carefully hopped onto the bed and laid down kind of on top on him.

-'Ok, I promise.'-

-'Good, I think it is very important for us to remember that, at the end of the day, we are all just human, we have our problems, insecurities, and the best thing we can do is talk about them and learn how to deal with them, together.'-

-'That was a beautiful reflection.'- She smiled broadly and kissed his cheek.-'And I couldn't agree more.'-

-'Great, now, I have to tell you something ,-'-He started.

"Oh god, what now?"- She prepared herself for the worst.

-'we, Kitty and me, did make out once…'- he confessed embarrassed.

-'WHAT!?'- she stared at him while he awkwardly smiled hoping for the best.

-'I was seventeen! We were drunk, I had only known her for a month or so… and I wanted to make Quinn jealous, which didn't work at all by the way. That same night we promised we would never talk about it ever again, cause none of us had enjoyed it, but Jesse caught a glimpse of us and punched the shit out of me the morning after.'-

-'Remember me to thank Jesse once again when we see him.'- she smiled mischievously this time.

-'HAHA, how funny.-' He commented ironically though genuinely smiling at her.-'You can't imagine what my faced looked like after the other guys got him off me.'-

-'Oh, poor boy. That should teach though, not to hit on your friend's little sister.'-

-'That's exactly what he said. You know, now that I think about it, you and him have a lot in common.'-

-'What can I say? You know what they say, brilliant minds think alike...'-she giggled and proceeded to kiss her boyfriend.

-'Wait, didn't you make out with Blaine once when you were both drunk?'- He remembered Brody telling the story at a dinner party or something of that sort.

-'No comment!'- She stated blushing.

-'YOU TOTALLY DID!'- he started laughing wholeheartedly.

-'okay, okay, so, so far, whilst drunk you made out with a girl you think about as your sister and I did the same thing with a gay boy with whom I am just as close…'- she tried saying it with a straight face but it was simply impossible.-'We certainly don't hold the best drinking history…'-

-'If you put it that way, we are kind of freaks, yeah…'- he snorted between shrieks of laughter.-'But, hey, at least we've got each other.'-

-'Yes we do, and that's all we need.'- she smiled sweetly and stirred herself up so as to kiss him.

Twenty minutes later, while the (now again) happy couple rested peacefully on the uncomfortable for two bed, the girl of the hour, the one they had been talking about before, busted through the door.

-'Okay, I give up, I am sorry Finn but I searched for this Rachel girl though out the whole building: checked every room, bathroom, closet, and facility in this hospital and she isn't there, she banished!'- She explained dramatically plumping herself down on the room's couch.

-'Umm, hi.'- Rachel whispered softly trying not to wake up Finn. He had nodded off a couple minutes ago and by what the nurse had told her earlier he needed to rest as much as he could.

-'OH YOU ARE HERE!'- She acknowledged jumping up and running towards them.

-'Shhhh, he's asleep.'- The little diva pointed out.

-'Oh, sorry!'-The blonde whispered.-'I'm Kitty by the way.'-

"Believe me I know a lot about you…"-The brunette thought to herself before offering her hand.-'Nice to meet you, I'm Rachel.'

'Nice to meet you too, '-Kitty replied taking her hand and shacking it energetically.-'You have no idea how much I've heard of you, this big guy right here wouldn't shut up, all the time mopping and sad, but I see you've got through it!'-

-'Yes, we have.'-

-'Excellent! I have to go tell Jess! Bye!'-

-'Hey, wait, could you do me a favor first?'- Rachel asked, she could see little Barbie had the energy to do anything so she might as well use it for something.

-'Yeah, sure. What is it?'-

-'My friends are waiting for me somewhere in the hall, could you tell them everything worked out and that I'll be staying for a while?'-

-'Yes, of course, how do they look like?'-

-'They are three slim, tall girls. Santana has darker skin and brown hair, Marley is a blue-eyed beauty and Brittany is blonde, just like you, and looks like she's kind of high all the time.'

-'wait, could it be Brittany Pierce?'- After seeing Rachel nodding.-'Cool, I know her, she used to sleep with my brother even though she's kinda gay…'-

-'Yes, I know the story too…could you please deliver the message for me? And hand me my purse, I can't reach it.'-

-'Yes, ma'am, here you go.'- Did she just call her "madam"!? uhh… -'Okay then, bye.'-

-'Bye'- Clearly the girl had not gotten on her best side.

Rachel ended up staying the night, though half way through it she moved to the couch to give Finn more space. Although it may sound like she had a restless night, the couch was comfy and she was small enough as to fit in perfectly.

She was glad she had stayed since the following morning, at 8am sharp, the doctor assigned with Finn's case dropped by to deliver wonderful news.

Thank god she had gotten up at 7.30, had breakfast at the cafeteria and was back in time or she would've missed him. Barely had she set foot back on the room when the good doctor came in.

-'Knock, knock.'- He said while opening the door.-'Good morning miss. Umm, if you don't mind me asking, who are you exactly? Last time I checked only Finn's brother is allowed here this early in the morning.'-

She was surprised to see a guy about her age who was already a doctor, how? She would never know. He was Asian, conspicuously.

-'I am Rachel Berry, Finn's girlfriend.'-

-'Nice to meet you Rachel, I am Dr. Mike Chang and I've been treating Finn ever since he was delivered by the ambulance. Now, let's wake up sleeping beauty shall we?'-He was charming and smart, Rachel licked him a lot.-'And we'll have to get you a special permit, visitor aren't allowed to come as they please before noon.'-

"I shouldn't mention the fact that I stayed overnight then…"- The brunette thought to herself.

After waking Finn up, he ran some test, asked some questions and before long the visit was over. Just before saying goodbye though, he said what Finn and Rachel wanted to hear the most.

-'So guys, everything looks more than fine, so if things keep improving this way, you'll be out of here in no time.'

'YES!'- They shouted in unison.-'Thank you doctor.'- Rachel added.

-'Please call me Mike, "doctor" and "Mr. Chang" make me feel really old.'-He smilled.-Okay, I'll be seeing you shortly, stay fit.'-

No sooner had he left he left than a very special man and beloved friend Rachel had been hoping to see appeared in front of them.

-'KURT!'- Rachel jumped from where she was sitting at the end of the bed and tackled her friend with hugs and kisses.-'Oh god, I've missed you so much!'-

-'I now see why you are with me; it's clearly because of my brother!'- Finn jocked.

The fashionista was completely taken aback upon seeing her there but soon recovered and returned her hug just as tightly.- 'Of course it is Finnegan, what did you think it was? Your charm and good looks?' – He laughed and then turned his attention back to Rachel.-'I've missed you too, diva, what have you been up to all this time?'-

-'It's a long story, one I can tell you over coffee if you feel like one…? We need to catch up!'-It was no secret Kurt took the gossip girl Rachel had inside and they both enjoyed every second of it.

-'I'd love one.'-

-'Hey! So you're just going to leave me? Just like that? You choose coffee with my brother over cuddling with me!?'- Finn dramatically questioned.

-'YES!' – They both replied at the same time and giggled. –'We'll be back in a couple minutes! Enjoy solitude!- Kurt added smiling whilst linking arms with his friend and walking off.

It came as no surprise to anyone that what Kurt said would take "a couple minutes" ended up taking an hour and a half. They talked about everything, from Broadway and fashion (a recurrent topic they would tackle more often than not) to his break up with Blaine and the upcoming movie project.

Turns out, Kurt was terribly sorry things with Blaine had ended the way they did, but he could hardly think about it while his brother and best friend were still fighting for their lives at the hospital.

Apparently, just as Sophie had told her before, Blaine and her had bumped into Kurt at the cafeteria, what the girl hadn't known was that that had been a particular blue day since doctors had implied Jesse would most likely not resist surgery and Finn had been weaker than usual. That, plus the fact that he had hardly gotten any sleep the night before had gotten Kurt grumpy and short tempered. So, when his now ex prompted the idea of going away for the weekend to clear their minds and kind of freshen up, leaving all worries, technology and means of communication behind he just exploded and mistreated the man he loved the most. Letting off steam by insulting and shouting in front of a lot of people was not a good idea, not at all. By the end of the day he just felt even worse, he wouldn't dare call him nor Rachel fearing she would take Blaine's side (if someone did that to his friends he certainly would). From then on, everything went kind of in a downward spiral, he stopped caring about his looks, wouldn't leave the house unless completely necessary and isolated himself from all the people that loved him.

-'Kurt that's awful, but hey, we can start getting it all back on the right tracks today. Get a hold of yourself, be the organized, impeccable-looking, fashion genius you are!'-

-'I don't know how is that possible, dear. Blaine will never forgive me, and I totally get it, hell, I will never forgive myself and everything just got out of control. As much as I'd like to be optimistic and say that if I set making everything right as my goal I would succeed, I'd be totally lying to myself.'

-'you don't know that! You haven't tried so how could you know the result!? Give it a try, Kurt! If not for you, do it for me! Or even better, do it for Blaine!' -

After a moment of hesitation he finally succumbed.

-'So, first things first, you need to go to your apartment, shower, dress up nicely and come back here. We'll grave lunch with the girls and in the afternoon we'll all stop by at Brody's and invite Blaine over so that you don't have to come face to face with him all too soon and on your own . Deal?'- Rachel eagerly explained.

-'There is absolutely no way you just came up with that, you have been giving my relationship a thought for quite some time, haven't you?'- he asked incredulously.

-'What can I say? It was a long night and sleep is something that doesn't come easy to me…'- She confessed.

-'That makes sense, how many cups of coffee have you have this far?'-

'-Today? Four…'- She admitted embarrassed.

-'FOUR? Rachel is 9:30 in the morning! I wonder how you are alive?'-

-'That's not important right now, just focus, lets follow the plan ok?'-

-'Ok, I'll be back in an hour or so.'- He said getting off his seat.

-'Ok. See you in Finn's room in two hours.'- She agreed smiling.

-'Wha-? I said-… who am I kidding. Yes, you are right, there's no way I'll get ready that fast. See you later.'- He took off laughing, things were going to get better. They had to.

Things run surprisingly smoothly. Rachel talked to Finn, he assured her that he would not be offended if they left him by himself, in fact, Jesse paid him a visit and he quickly forgot all about the leaving alone thing.

-'Man! I met an awesome girl yesterday!'- The curly haired firefighter said bursting through the door.-'Oh! Hi Rachel.'-

-'Hello, Jesse. Though I'd love to stay and chat about you and needy girls, I have to run, Kurt is waiting for me outside.'- Rachel answered smiling while gathering her things.

-'Your loss.'- He replied grinning foolishly.-Anyways, '-He turned back to his best friend-'I think I found my match!'

-'Jesse, how come whilst we both get stuck in this awful hospital, you get to meet hot girls and all the women I meet are sixty-year-old ladies with more facial hair than myself?'- Finn asked.

-'And you are complaining because…?'- Rachel, who still hadn't left the room, questioned with a raised eyebrow and folded arms.

-'BUSTED!'- His so called best friend yelled before laughing his ass off.

-'I'm kidding, Rach! You know that!'- He tried making up for his mistake by sending her his best smile and apparently it worked.

-'You better…'-She admonished before finally taking off. –'See you guys later!'-

-'Good luck with the plan! See you!'- Her boyfriend shouted back.

-'Plan? What plan?'- Jesse, who had been completely in the dark about Kurt's situation, asked.

-'She's trying to get Blaine and Kurt back together.'-

-'They broke up? When? And how did I miss that?'-

-'Yes. A couple weeks ago. And you were probably too hung up on pain killers to notice. Anyway, today is the day we try make things right for them.'-

-'By "we" you mean her and aren't we a little old to play matchmakers? I mean, shouldn't you let them solve it by themselves?'-

-'One, even if I'm not there physically, she knows she's got my support, and two, Kurt is the reason we met so it's only fair we do something for him too.'-

-'Isn't Rachel the reason him and Blaine ever got to know each other too?'-

-'O'come on! Stop with the questions, Rache- I mean, _we_ want to solve it, full stop.'- Finn kind of yelled. He had run out of answers and was fed up.

-'Okay, I was just …. Intrigued.'- Jesse muttered plumping himself down on the nearest chair.

-'I'm sorry.'- Finn apologized.-'You were saying..? About the girl. What's her name?'-

-'Sugar, and she's-'- Before he could finish answering Finn bursted into laughter.-'Hey! What's so funny?'-

-'SUGAR!?' Her name is sugar!?'- he managed to utter between shrieks of laughter.

-'Yes, so? I thought it was cool. It matches her cheery persona.'-

-'Oh God, '- he snort.-'Please be a deary and ask her how her mother, Mrs. Salt, and father, Mr. Pepper, are doing for me.'-

-'Hey that's not cool. Firstly, her name is awesome, and secondly, her parents own this fucking place so you might as well show some respect towards the people that saved me, your girlfriend and helped your fucking skin heal.'-

Finn was completely taken aback; he hadn't expected Jesse to take it to heart. Nor, had he imagined him reacting that way.

-'Hey, I'm just messing with you, as always! Why so serious?'- He questioned, curious. He had his suspicions but it just couldn't be, could it? Jesse couldn't actually be falling for the girl, could he?

-'I just… I don't like you making fun of her.'- His friend answered deep in thought. –'I mean, how would you feel if I mocked Rachel?'- he asked shyly.

-'That's completely different; you know Rachel and I are in love. Its way deeper than just a crush.'- He explained.

-'Well, maybe… maybe it's not just a simple crush.'- Jesse spoke slowly and looked quite pensive. Finn was pretty sure it was the first time he was questioning those crazy feelings himself.-'What if I'm in love?'-

-'Well, I wouldn't say _in love_, I mean, how long have you known her?' – Finn had never seen his friends this shy and insecure… Jesse, unlike him, was good with words and always had a strong opinion on everything; even if the matter didn't affect him in the slightest he would always speak his mind. He had always admired him for that quality. Furthermore, his friend wasn't afraid of defying masses, whether his opinion was the same or completely opposed from everyone else's didn't matter to him at all. Jesse would always repeat the same thing to him over and over: "By not saying what you really think for fear that you'll disrespect others, you are indeed disrespecting them and yourself too."

-'Does it matter?'- He asked, his voice barely audible.

-'Of course it does, Jesse, you can't be in love with a girl you met yesterday… so I'll repeat, how long has it been since you guys met?'-

-'Less than a week.'- He confessed.-'But, don't you believe in love at first sight?'-

-'No.'- Finn replied with a straight face.-'Honestly, I don't.'-

-'How long did it take you to realize you loved Rachel? I'm pretty sure you were quite hung of on her since day one too.'-

-'You are right, I was head over hills but I didn't _love_ her that very same night. Since the moment I set eyes on her, after my brother made me almost tackle her, I was absolutely sure she was special. But I was certain I loved her a month after that party, we were at my apartment having breakfast and she just came up to me and just kissed me and… it was just perfect. I really don't know how to describe it, but the moment you realize that you wouldn't change anything for the world, that's when you know.'-

-'That actually makes sense… a welcome change since hardly do I ever understand anything that comes out of your mouth.'- he added the later chuckling.

-'Very funny, now, tell me how you met.'-

-'As I said, her parents own the place and ask her to make rounds, drop by, more often than not so that she can familiarize with what one day will be hers. She was entered my room by sheer chance and I thought she was a nurse checking up on me. Then one thing led to another and now she comes by every other hour to just talk and stuff…'-

-'Ok, explain to me something… How come you confuse her with a nurse and then "one thing led to another"?'- Finn was puzzled.

-'What? I thought she was hot so I hit on her and then she told me who she was and we started chatting and we both enjoyed it and since I can't get out of here she just comes by and we spend time together.'-

-'Okay… To start with, you can't just flirt with nurses, Jesse! Moreover, I kind of see why you believe you are in love, I've never seen you so respectful and caring with a girl and I've never seen you in love so… You've always been more of a fats approach kind of guy so it really shouldn't surprise me if you have indeed fallen for her. Either way, I highly advise taking things slow.'-

-'See!? This could be it! I'm telling you!'- Jesse energetically stood but became frustrated a second later.-'How the hell do I avoid screwing up? You are right, I've never done this before, how the fuck will I know what to do or say?'-

-'There's no way of avoiding it… or if there is please tell because after all Rachel and have recently been through I think we deserve to know. Look, here's what I think: if you are right, and she really is the one, you just have to be yourself and things will follow along. Don't lie, don't keep things from here, namely your economic status, and don't take things too far too fast. That's all I can help you with.'- He smiled sheepishly at his co-worker.-'Oh! And don't ever, EVER, tell her that she looks chubby or slightly fat. Even if you say "kind of" before it, she will be livid and crossed and you'll never hear the end of it. Worst mistake I ever made.'-

-'You told Rachel she looked chubby?'- His friend asked incrediously.

-'NO! God forbid! A few weeks before junior prom I simply mentioned to Quinn that those particular pair of jeans didn't quite compliment her hips and that they made her seem "kind of chubby". She didn't speak to me for two whole weeks. Anyways, lesson learned, it will never happen again.'-

Jesse was bending now because he just couldn't control his laughter anymore.-'Oh god…Ok, got it, and just so you know, she's already aware of my economical position. Kitty dropped by unannounced, as always, and took it upon herself to scare Sugar away and, fortunately, she miserably failed. As a matter of fact, if anything, I think she actually likes me more now, knowing I'm not after her bank accounts.

-'That's good I guess. When are you seeing her again?'-

-'In a couple of hours.'-The handsome raven haired one replied after checking his watch.- 'Do you feel like going to the garden or anything?'-

-'Yes please, I can't bear spending another second trapped in this room. Please get me out of here!'-He joked.-

-'You know, your vocabulary has notoriously improved since you started seeing Rachel. Before her you were so dull and stupid. Now you are dull and stupid but with a wither word range! Congratulations!'- Jesse mocked and for that he got punched by his friend.

-'Haha, very funny, you should pursue comedy as a second career.'- Finn muttered before munching him again.

'- Hey, careful! I'm a patient too, remember!? Plus, you should save that strength for later. Think you are strong enough as to walk, big guy?'-

-'Well, we might as well try.'-

Rachel and Kurt arrived to her house where they'd meet Marley, Santana and Brittany only to see there was an unexpected guest waiting for them there too.

-'kitty, what are you doing here?'- Kurt asked completely puzzled.

-'Oh, I stayed here yesterday and I am hungry so I'll be joining you girls for lunch.'-She answered as if everything made perfect sense and Kurt had no doubt that it actually did in her twisted little mind.

-'Excuse me?'-Rachel jumped in.-'We are going to discuss personal stuff you have no idea about and you are not welcome young lady.'-

-'Oh shut it Granma Dwarf, I am tired of you rambling and looking down on me. I wasn't gonna say anything in front of Finn, but you are a huge disappointment: after all I had heard from you, I expected you to be at least a foot taller… and blonder.'-

Rachel's gasp could've been heard from the neighboring city. She was utterly flabbergasted, was this the same girl Finn had described as a "deary"? Had she been fake-polite with her before? For what she was seeing now, the answer to the later was a huge and giant YES.

-'Don't take it personal, Rachel, she's a bitch with all her friends. The only people she treats properly as human beings are her parents, my parents and Finn. Not even Jesse can escape her evil. For example, she has purposely been addressing me as a female for as long as I can remember.'-

-'So, where are we going?'- Little Barbie asked graving her purse and linking arms with a shocked-looking Marley.

-'So, relationship status update, now.'- Kurt demanded after they were seated at the restaurant.

-'Still together,'- Santana and Brittany called in unison raising their linked hands before smiling to each other.-'And as strong as ever.'-The former added after picking her girlfriends lips.

-'Uhhh, you guys are so happy it makes me nauseous.'- Kurt said making a face.-'Rachel?'-

-'Well, hello there.'- a voice Rachel couldn't quite place but sounded awfully familiar said from behind her back.

As she turned, she caught sight of the one and only Cassandra July, with her usual perfect body, grinning at her. -'Cassandra, hey! What are you doing here?'- She asked after recovering from the shock.

-'Isn't it obvious? I'm here to eat, as everyone else.'-

-'All by yourself?'- Rachel didn't want to sound rude but that seemed quite sad, pathetic and not at all Cassandra July.

-'Hey, I love the food they serve, don't judge.'-The blonde commanded.-'But… since you are all here, mind if I join you?'-

-'Oh, please, by all means.'- Marley was the first to reply, to everyone's surprise.-'Here, take my seat while I go ask for another chair.'- She said standing from her seat between Kitty and the wall.

-'Oh, don't worry I'll go ask for one myself.'-

-'No! I insist! Really, I was going to the lady's room anyways.'-

-'Oh, thank you then.'- Cassie said having a seat.

-'Oh no, thank you.'-The blue-eyed brunette muttered under her breath. Though Cassandra and Kitty might have found her behavior as simply polite, the rest all knew she was just doing it to get rid from the annoying, bitchy, blonde named Kitty.

-'Okay, where were we? Oh right, Rachel, your turn.'-Kurt spoke once Marley came back and sat down between her best friend and Santana.

-'Well, Finn and I are back together, only stronger and better.'-She said proudly.

-'Another happy one, uhhhh, someone please get me a drink, I'm gonna need it if I want to survive this lunch.'- Kurt pleaded.-'Cassandra? What about you? What's your relationship status?'-

-'Brody and I are still together if that's what you are asking.'-

-'Okay, is anybody other than me single in this table? Kitty?'-

-'Sorry, darling, I wouldn't say I'm in a relationship because I am dating more than one boy at a time, but I am most certainly not single.'- She answered in her usual "I'm-acting-as-if-I-were-nice-but-I'm-just-a-littl e-bitch" tone.

-'Oh god... Marley? Please tell me you are with me in this one.'-

-'Sorry Kurt, I wish I could. I honestly do but for now I simply cannot.'- his friend replied ashen faced.

-'What do you mean you wish you could? You are dating someone you'd rather you weren't?'- the boy asked alarmed.

-'Kind of… Look, long story short: I was at a bar and I met this hot guy and we started fooling around. It was all fun and games until I met this other incredibly good looking one and started seeing him too. Now I think I love both of them and I don't know which one to choose.'-

-'You've got to be kidding me…'- He was completely in awe; he most certainly hadn't expected such drama.

-'Oh, she hasn't mentioned the best part yet.'- Santana commented trying to suppress her laughter.-'Finish the story, Marley.'-

-'Is there more to the story?'- Kurt questioned intrigued.

-'Just one tiny, little detail.'-Marley claimed.-'They… They are brothers.'-

-'WHAT? You are dating brothers!? Really? Oh wow!'-Now Kurt was in shock.- 'And they have no idea whatsoever about each other?'-

-'Nope… '- She answered.

-'Oh girl, way to go! You play an angel in the light but you ain't no virgin in the dark! You and I are more alike than what I thought.'- Kitty remarked smiling from the other side of the table.

-'I don't see how that's a good thing'-Marley commented.

-'Me neither,'-Both Rachel and Kurt agreed.

-'I agree.'-Santana said.

-'Anyways, you want my advice?'- Kurt asked.

-'It's okay, I've already ar-.'- Kurt didn't let her finish and just blurted out his plan.

-'okay, I've got two options for you. Number one is, get rid of the first one you met. I once read a very interesting quote from the one and only Johnny Depp which said that if you ever found yourself in love with two people, you should let go of the first one since if you truly loved that one you would've never fallen for the second.'

-'But I wasn't in love with Noah when I met Jake…'- Marley reflected.

-'That's why I got you option number two. Whenever I have to choose between two different options and I am absolutely clueless as to which I'd prefer, I flip a coin.'-

-'You want me to let sheer chance decide which man I should stay with?'- The girl asked in disbelief.

-'No, no, it doesn't work like that. You just have to pretend it will, so when the coin is in the air and about to fall you will unconsciously wish for one end to pop up and that's when you'll know which one you really want.'-

-'That's actually pretty intelligent.'- Brittany observed.

-'Way, thank you Brittany.'- Kurt told her blushing.

-'It really is, Kurt, and thank you but I've already made up my mind.'- Marley interjected.

-'Oh really? Which one will you dump?'- Kitty inquired.

-'Both.'- The whole table, even Cassandra, gasped.-'I've decided to let both go and just stay single for a while. This whole thing has been really stressful and I need some time for myself.'-

-'When are you doing it?'- Cassandra asked.

-'Today, later.'- she replied looking down at her knotted hands.

-'You've got our support.'- Rachel assured her.-'We are here for you if you need us.'-

-'Hey maybe the small reunion we'll be having at night can serve you as a welcome distraction.'- Kurt pointed out.

-'Yes, maybe. Thank you guys.'-Marley looked up and smiled, clearly gaining confidence.

-'I for once believe she should just keep on with this and enjoy having two guys to sleep with.'- Kitty noted.

'KITTY!'- The whole table growled.

By eight o' clock sharp everyone, but Finn and Jesse that is, was at Kurt's.

Rachel was chatting with Brittany, Santana was playing with Sophie, Cassandra and Marley were blabbing while seated in the sofa and Blaine, Brody and the host were "talking" by the fire.

-'How did it go?'- Cassie inquired.

-'Pretty well actually. I think I suffered a lot more than them… I don't know, I just thought, I though they cared more you know? … About me that is… Is it wrong for me to wish they were hurting as much as I am?'-

-'No, not at all… Look, I didn't wanna say anything earlier today, but the Puckerman brothers hold a reputation for being womanizers so, don't take it personal, they are just like that. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't really surprise me if they were making out with another girl this exact minute.'-

-'Yeah, I guess, it shouldn't surprise me either.'-

And they were.

Meanwhile, Brody was trying to escape that awful situation he had gotten himself into. Every single word that fell out of his mouth just seemed to originate a new awkward silence and he couldn't stand it anymore, he had to get out of that "conversation".

-'Oh, I think Sophie is calling me.'- He acted out.

-'What? No, I'm certain she's having fun with Santana somewhere.'- Kurt denied.

-' I'm pretty sure she just called for me.'- he tried again.

-'I didn't hear anything.'- Blaine responded.

-'Me neither.'- Kurt ageed.

-'Call it father instinct or whatever, we'll talk about it later. Bye.' And with that he took off before he could hear them say anything else.

-So,ummm, how have you been?'- Kurt was the first one to break the ice. Now that Brody was gone, awkward silences only seemed to get longer and longer.

-'Look, Kurt, I think you should know something… I am seeing someone else.'-

And just like that his world came crashing down once again.


End file.
